This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal on October 18, 2023. Above: “Ms. Rocki” reads aloud that evening.

Tonight is the launch for the picture book I hinted at last January.

“You can expect rhyming and rapping…and whimsical, colorful illustration,” I wrote.

That was 20 columns ago. Today’s column is published October 18, the very day you should make your way to the third-floor meeting room at Musser Public Library for the 6 p.m. unveiling of Susie Clark: The Bravest Girl You’ve Ever Seen. Subtitle: “Desegregating Iowa Schools in 1868.”

This column by Daniel G. Clark about Alexander Clark (1826-1891) first appeared in the Muscatine Journal.

I once drove a busload of visitors to the little park we call Mark Twain Overlook and heard their company’s guide tell them: “He lived in Muscatine for about three years, and his house was up here.”

I simply grinned. I was just the driver, not the history police.

Did you know Mark Twain lived in Muscatine? That part is true—all you need to know if you want to mention his storybook characters for whatever you’re selling or even name some streets and subdivisions. We’ve probably done more of that here than anywhere else outside of Hannibal, Missouri.

How many days he was here—or nights—doesn’t matter. He judged our sunsets the best anywhere. Boosters took it and ran.