On the Cdtnpus I
Dr. Davis
has
contributed
13 articles
to the
Mark Twain
Encyclopedia
and has
presented
papers at
Fall Twain
Symposium
Chowan’s
becoming a
senior college
has been the
“answer to
my prayers”
Professor devoted thesis and dissertation to author
Promoting the works of Mark Twain
By FRANK ROBERTS
Staff Writer
The Suffolk Sun
When Samuel Clemens died at 74, he left a
mass of material equal to that he had already
published under his pen name, Mark Twain.
The general attitude in 1910 was, “So what?”
For many years, Twain was not held in high
esteem. Some critics grudgingly admitted he was
a fine humorist, but they faulted him for lack of
purpose.
During the past two decades, however, that
trend has reversed itself thanks to people like Dr.
John Davis, a 50-year-old
professor of English who
teaches American Literature at
Chowan College.
A founder of the Mark
Twain Circle, which disttibutes
information on Twain, Davis has
contributed 13 articles to the
Mark Twain Encyclopedia and
last year presented a paper at the
third annual Fall Twain Sympo
sium in Hartford, Conn. There is
a lot to discuss at such gather
ings.
“Twain wrote everything —
novels, essays, sketches, short
stories, travel pieces,” Davis
said. “The output is in the
thousands.”
An equal number of manu
scripts went unpublished, most of them lan
guishing in the library of the University of
California at Berkeley.
In 1967, publication of some of those items
began, including his notebooks, love letters and
an autobiography.
“They were $10 a book then.” said Davis.
“Now they’re $40.”
The West Coast university is involved in
“intense investigation of Twain’s published and
unpublished works,” he said.
A few years later, it was a struggle getting
some of the items published because Clara, one
of Twain’s three daughters, claimed some people
No one would ever guess that Ann Levy
has not lived in the United States all of her
life.
Bom in Jamaica, Levy emigrated to the
United States when she was 13 years old and
became a permanent resident of this country.
Last December, however, she achieved a
goal she had sought since that time when she
was awarded a Certificate of Naturalization
and became a American citizen.
Levy began her college career at a New
Jersey college in 1975. She moved to North
Carolina in 1982 after visiting her sister and
found that she wanted to live in the north
eastern section of the slate.
Transferring her college credits to
Chowan, she completed the requirements for
an associate degree in business administra
tion in 1983. Levy then completed one
semester at East Carolina University before
returning to live in Conway and accepting
full-time employment.
Classified as “an excellent student” by
V
would not understand some of her father’s
writings.
“He wrote an attack on organized religion
and fundamentalism,” said Davis, adding that
the author “was probably not arguing with God
but with what many people did in His name. He
said there was only one Christian and that they
got Him and killed Him, early.”
In a similar vein, the humorist once de
scribed the earth as “a wart — insignificant.”
The significance of Twain’s contributions to
American hterature began to impress Davis
when he was a student at Hueytown High, “and I
met a fellow named Doyle
—^ Brown,” he said. “We sat
^ around and talked about
Twain.”
Davis, the son of an Ala
bama steelworker, has been
teaching at Chowan for 13
years. He is a graduate of
Alabama College, now the
University of Montevallo, and
has a bachelor’s degree from
Auburn University.
His master’s thesis and
Ph.D. dissertation at Auburn
were devoted to Twain.
Davis and his wife live
within walking distance of the
Chowan campus. They have a
son, Hugh, and a daughter,
whose name Twain would have
appreciated — Sarah Tarah.
The humorist’s wife, Olivia, served as his
censor, ostensibly to keep him out of trouble,
Davis said.
“Often Twain would put in cuss words just
so his wife could ‘x’ them out,” he said, recall
ing one of the author’s saltiest writings.
It was a letter he dashed off to the gas
department because the gas kept shutting off
accidentally. A phrase of profanity fills that
epistle.
It is a phrase that probably filled the last 20
years of Twain’s life, when involvement in get-
rich-quick schemes helped put him in debt.
her professors. Levy said she always wanted
to earn a baccalaureate degree and said
Chowan’s return to senior college status is
“an answer to my prayers.”
Attending Chowan on a parttime basis in
order to continue her employment. Levy
plans to earn a B.S. degree in business
administration with an emphasis in account
ing.
The fall semester was quite bfisy for the
new U. S. citizen. She completed several
academic courses at Chowan, worked full
time as a case worker with the Hertford
County Department of Social Services, and
studied to prepare for taking a written
examination to earn citizenship.
After filing the appropriate applications.
Levy successfully passed the written
examination and on December 3, she
participated in the official ceremony in
Fayetteville to become a citizen.
She is quick to express her pride in
becoming a citizen and says “I have already
registered to vote!”
Dr, Davis'Favorites
Samuel Langhorne Clemens —
Mark Twain — was born Nov. 30,
1835 in Florida, Mo. He is known for
his sarcastic wit.
These are some of his most famous
lines: “Man is the only animal that
blushes. Orneeds to/’and “Pity is for
the living, envy is for the dead. ”
Among Davis’ favorites are “Let’s
be thanl0il to Adam. He brought death
to the world. "Another has to do with
what he describes as one of the many
advantages of Adam and Eve. “They
escaped teething. ” A third is a descrip
tion of April Fool’s Day: “We’re re
minded of what we are the other 364
days of the year ”
“He went bankrupt,” Davis said. “He toured
the world lecturing to pay the debts.”
Lecturing and writing kept Twain going
financially and emotionally. His best books were
written between 1871 and 1891 when he lived in
a house in Hartford that resembled a Mississippi
River steamboat. His neighbor was Harriet
Beecher Stowe.
Davis has visited there often, he would, of
course, have preferred a visit while Twain was
still in residence.
“We’re the same height, so I could look him
in the eye, and we’re both Sagitarians,” Davis
said. “I’d be in awe of him, but he was a friendly
man and loved talking to people.’
Davis is the same way, with Twain being a
favorite topic. The professor is particularly
happy when he can discover something new
about the author.
“A missing part of ‘Huckleberry Finn’ was
recently discovered,” he said.
The manuscript is at the University of
Buffalo. Twain, a former reporter, was once part
owner of The Express in that city.
“The missing part has to do with Jim (Huck’s
black friend) cleaning a cadaver in a mortician’s
office,” Davis said. “If printed today it would be
considered racist.”
Therein lies another sore point about Twain.
“ ‘Huckleberry Finn’ is not racist,” Davis
said. “It’s about the brotherhood of man. Huck
helps a slave escape. His conviction is so strong,
he felt they’d go to hell for doing it. But the two
were very close friends, so he took that chance.”
Huckleberry’s adventures were originally
banned in Boston.
“When that happened. Twain said ‘hot dog
— now I’ll sell thousands more books.’ “ said
Davis, who describes the feisty Huck as “white
trash who cussed, smoked, played hooky.”
Davis loves that story, but his favorite Twain
piece is “The Great Dark,” which he describes as
“strange, weird. And, I love the tragedy of
‘Pudd’nhead Wilson.’ “
Davis loves Twain because, he said, “he’s
funny, an American original. He makes every
thing enjoyable. He used humor as a tool to
expose hypocrisy, racism and other social ills.”
There are times in Twain’s writings when
there is no humor.
“In ‘Tom Sawyer’, Indian Joe starves to
death in a cave,” Davis said. “In ‘Huckleberry
Finn’ a drunk was put in a window so people
could watch him die.
“A Bible was put on his chest for the
religionists. The drunk was a better man than
those in the mob,” said Davis, who describes the
story as a “children’s book that adults enjoy.”
“I believe Twain was a genius,” Davis said.
“My second favorite writer is Faulkner,” he
said, “and he was influenced by Twain.”
‘ 4
'mi m:
Dr. John Davis
Levy becomes American citizen
and nears goal for B.S. degree
PAGE 12 — CHOWAN TODAY, Spring 1994