News Release No. 384

CELEBRATE MARK TWAIN'S BIRTHDAY NOV. 30 AT
MARK TWAIN BIRTHPLACE STATE HISTORIC SITE

Volume 32-384

Contact: Sue Holst

(For immediate release)

573-751-6510

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, NOV. 18, 2004 -- Author-humorist Mark Twain would be celebrating his 169th birthday, so Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site is hosting a birthday party in his honor on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the event will be held at the site's museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Highlights of the birthday party will be two films relating to Twain's stories. At 1 p.m., the movie "Mark Twain: When I was a Boy" will be shown. At 1:30 p.m., the film "The Mysterious Stranger," which was filmed in Austria and stars Fred Gwynne, will be shown. This ironic and irreverent fantasy focuses on a printer's apprentice from Missouri who daydreams himself into a medieval Europeon castle where he meets a mysterious, magical youth who displays fascinating powers.

The historic site's museum houses the cabin where Samuel Langhorne Clemons, known as Mark Twain, was born. It also features exhibits that cover his childhood and adult life, including a handwritten manuscript of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." Admission to the museum will be free for the day and door prizes will be given away. Refreshments will be provided.

Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site is located adjacent to the village of Florida, in Mark Twain State Park, off Highway 107 east on County Road U in Monroe County. For more information, contact the historic site at 573-565-3449 or the Department of Natural Resources toll free at 800-334-6946 (voice) or 800-879-2419 (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf). For more information about Missouri state parks and historic sites, visit the Web at www.mostateparks.com.

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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