When Mark Twain Came for Lunch

Mark Twain came to my family's house for a last-minute Sunday lunch. I was unfortunately absent, not due to be born for 74 more years, but I have seen his thank-you letter and heard the story. It goes like this:

Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens, by now in his 70’s, was visiting my family’s Virginia town, accompanied by his secretary who was “a rather pompous old chap.” They attended Sunday morning church and when my great-great-grandfather saw them after the service, standing outside admiring the old gothic edifice of the building, he introduced himself and asked Mr. Twain to come join the family for lunch at their house. His secretary interrupted saying Mr. Twain had a prior engagement but Mr. Twain interrupted him saying, “I am going to lunch with this man.”

Mr. Twain joined my family in their buggy and told the secretary to find his way there on the streetcar. 

The lady of the house, Mother, was at home already, I suppose not accompanying her family to church, and so her husband stopped to call her from his nearby office to casually ask her to set an extra place for Mark Twain. 

So that afternoon, three generations of my family gathered around the table as they always did on Sundays, this time with their honored guest (and secretary). 

As the story is recounted in old type-writer font by one of those present, Mother brought in one of her famous desserts, Snow Pudding, which was a light fluffy mixture with custard poured on top. The secretary immediately informed her that Mr. Clemens could not eat that dessert, and “Mr. Clemens said, ‘I will eat it if it kills me,’ and proceeded to enjoy it with much gusto.”

Mr. Twain’s subsequent letter mentions another item from lunch he liked very much, corn pones. These were something like a pancake made of corn meal which he apparently went home and replicated, teaching his cook to do so as well.

My relatives were about my age now. Their children around the table were my children’s age. I’d like to be so hospitable as to welcome Mark Twain for a last-minute lunch, so prepared with Snow Pudding, but I’m just now sure how I would have taken that call from my husband.