BRINGING HISTORY TO LIFE — Appearing as Mark Twain at the Brooke County Public Library on April 24, Doug Riley reflected on the childhood that inspired his books, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and on the controversy surrounding the latter work. -- Warren Scott

WELLSBURG — Actor and historian Doug Riley appeared as Mark Twain at the Brooke County Public Library on April 24.

Riley offered a look at the inspirations behind the author’s most famous novels and suggested how one that has been deemed controversial … be approached with a different perspective.

Made possible through the West Virginia Humanities Council’s History Alive! Program, Riley appeared during an open meeting of the Friends of Brooke County Libraries.

The program offers a unique look at the lives of various historic figures through monologues that are delivered by one of several historians portraying the figure which they have researched.

As he filled a glass from a whisky bottle and lit a cigar — two habits for which Twain was known — Riley, as the author, remarked, “It’s not that I’m against abstinence, as long as it doesn’t harm anybody.”

He added he’d given up smoking “thousands of times,” including once as a boy, when he was told it would stunt his growth.

Riley, a retired history teacher and Army veteran, focused on Twain’s younger days for this particular program.

He explained while “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” can be found in the fiction section of many libraries, “I’m here to tell you over 70 percent of it is true.”

Riley said while scenes involving a murder, the local graveyard and the cave where Tom and Becky Thatcher encounter the villainous Injun Joe were fabrications, much of Tom’s experiences were inspired by Twain’s own childhood.

For example, the title character was based on Tom Blankenship, a childhood friend of Twain.

Thatcher was inspired by Laura Hawkins, whom he was romantically interested in as a youth.

“Pap” Finn — Huck’s alcoholic father, was based on two real men who were known to be town drunks.

Riley commented Injun Joe was drawn from a real person who actually was a kind man he later regretted “shaming.”

But it’s the appearance of Jim, a runaway slave, in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” and Twain’s frequent use of a racial slur to identify African Americans, that has caused some to ban the book or prohibit its use within public schools.

As Twain, Riley asked his audience to consider the background that inspired him to write the book.

He noted Twain was among many boys growing up in Hannibal, Missouri, who marveled at the steamboats that often traversed the nearby Mississippi River.

Riley stated the experience led him to become a riverboat pilot, a job he enjoyed until the Civil War brought a temporary end to commerce on the river.

He noted in his book, “Life on the Mississippi,” Twain wrote about the changes to life along the river since he left that area in the 1860s.

Noting that the lynching of Blacks was prevalent, he sought next to write a novel about both his childhood and the degradation experienced by Blacks.

As Twain, Riley noted future author Ernest Hemmingway would say, “All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called ‘Huckleberry Finn.'”

Riley suggested that because many American authors in Twain’s day were strongly influenced by the more stilted writing style of their European peers.

As Twain, Riley said, “I spoke in an American voice. I told the truth in the vernacular of the time.”

He said not long after it was released, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was criticized.

However, the criticism came more for its “poor grammar” than for its view on race.

Riley said in more recent years, NewSouth Press published a version of the novel in which “167 uses of the ‘N-word’ were changed to ‘slave.'”

Riley said in 70 percent of those instances, the meaning wasn’t changed, but for the rest, the context was lost.

He remarked the novel shows how Huck sees Jim as a fellow being and how he refuses to turn Jim in despite what he has been taught by the society of his day.

“I personally think it was the first civil rights book,” Riley said. “It’s a shame we can’t use it in high school today.”

During his talk, Riley shared many stories of humorous things that happened to Twain — as a boy and young man — while admitting how the author was known to exaggerate for comic effect.

But he also expressed the love Twain had for a childhood in which he spent many summers on the farm of his aunt and uncle. The days when he skipped school to spend time in the local “swimming hole.”

As he gazed out the windows of the library’s River Room, named such because it overlooks the Ohio River, Riley’s character remarked that such a scene causes him to yearn for his childhood home.

“It brings a tear to my eye and I become homesick whenever I’m next to a big river like we are today,” he said.

During its annual spring meeting, the Friends of Brooke County Libraries arrange for a special program to take place.

The group also holds various fundraisers throughout the year, including a Christmas wreath auction, which has been set for Nov. 22.

The fundraiser will support license fees for the movies that are shown at the libraries in Wellsburg and Follansbee.

Proceeds are also used for the bags needed in the 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program, as well as for several portable hotspots offering Internet access to patrons who check them out from the libraries.

During the meeting, the group elected officers for the new year.

Linda Arbogast was added as secretary to last year’s slate of leaders. They are: Valerie Leasure, president; Michael Traubert, vice president; and Linda Amos, treasurer.

(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)