In his Autobiography, Mark Twain had a section on Bret Harte. Harte is covered in dress and behavior as Twain knew Harte. This first section is read aloud by Ruth knowing Twain was a good reporter. This is the only time pock marks were mentioned in writing that were on Harte's face.
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Today Ruth reads from the Mark Twain Autobiography published after his death. Chapter 2 talks about slavery as Twain knew it in his boyhood before the Civil War. Then Ruth tells the story of her childhood when she stood on one side of a large canyon and listened to a Black Church on the other side of the canyon and how it affected her. July 24 is a Civil Rights Anniversary.
Ruth also reads her comments on "The Ice Caps Are Melting," and how to prepare for rising water.
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After reading almost everything available by Twain, Ruth found a little jem about hunting a turkey. This is pretty good Twain and Ruth gives it her all in the telling. Also on this half hour is an explanation of what happened to Twain's unpublished work and why it's taken so long for most of it to get into print. There have been good comments about the information in this half hour.
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Once again Ruth reads from Mark Twain's "Roughing It." This time we hear about Slade, one of the characters of the time with 26 murders to his credit. To say Slade was rough is an understatement, but he was also fair for the time, and Twain met Slade under telling circumstances. Listen to this story and hear both sides.
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Bryce Parker joins Ruth for another show. We are happy to have the well-known television film maker, Bryce, jump in the skit "The Craft Show." Ruth and Bryce share the craft anyone can do, including Ruth and Bryce. Somehow five yellow pencils get glued to a table. There is also an interview with Parker about his film, "The Rectangular Age."
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And it's back to Mark Twain and the time he was an Ag Edior of a newspaper. Ruth gives voice to several characters with a complaint about the news as written by Twain. Listen in to hear one of the best, but little known, Twain stories.
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Ruth reads with Bryce Parker and Tristan Leder, the skit written by Ruth, "What's Cookin?" Few people know the KDRT Studio has an on-air full kitchen for cooking shows. Bryce, Tristan, and Ruth manage to burn the kitchen down while making a salad.
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Today we hear a favorite of Ruth's: the Robert W. Service tale of "The Cremation of Sam McGee." The California Gold Rush wasn't the only gold strike. In the late 1800s, up in Alaska, gold was found and thousands went after it.
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Today we have a mystery to solve. Ruth opens the show with a story but does not say who wrote it. We listen to the story and try to guess who wrote this unusual tale. Ruth says at the end of the reading who wrote it, but maybe it wasn't an easy guess for the listener. See if you guess right.
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May 29, 2014 show has many Tech mistakes that are all to the credit of Ruth Chambers, the wonder engineer. Skip this show and listen to a later date version of Mark Twain's "Ag Editor" chapter. Sorry I'm so special as a tech person, but this is not Darrick's fault; it was all me.
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