No American, with the possible exception of Yogi Berra, has been credited with more sayings that he may not have said than Mark Twain. Yes, a premature obituary in 1897 did indeed inspire Twain (who didn`t die until 1910) to cable The Associated Press: ”The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” But scholars of the Mark Twain Papers at the University of California in Berkeley are not so sure that the author-humorist really said, ”The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco,” or ”Don`t go to sleep; so many people die there,” or ”When I feel the urge to exercise I lay down until it passes away.” The quotes sound Twain-esque, but editor Kenneth Sanderson said, ”We can`t say for certain that he did not say or write these. But we cannot find the citations for these-and we`ve looked.” Robert Hirst, head of the Twain Papers, says his group has started their quote file ”to try to run down” whether reports of Twain`s authorship are true or greatly exaggerated. RAP`S MASTERLIST Mark Twain was born about a century and a half too soon to enjoy rap speech, but if future generations want to learn why parents and teenagers sometimes couldn`t communicate during the 1990s, they can turn to the
”Rappers Handbook.” Richard McAlister, 29, of Norcross, Ga., said he already has sold more than 10,000 copies of his handbook to schools, libraries and businesses. ”There`s a communication gap,” McAlister told The Associated Press. ”I might say: `Yo, G, we gettin` ready to get busy; let`s kick it.`
” (For you non-rappers that means, ”Hey, man, let`s have a party.”) ”A lot of people wouldn`t understand what I was saying. With this book, they can look up the terms.” Check it out.
SELLECK SETTLES WITH TABLOID Actor Tom Selleck, who threatened to hit the supermarket tabloid The Globe with magnum-strength legal force for its implication that he was gay, has settled his $20 million libel lawsuit. Financial terms were not disclosed, but as part of the deal The Globe agreed to a clarification of its July 2 article on Selleck. In its current issue the Globe says it ”apologizes to the extent that any statements made by any Globe editors concerning the article were construed to express or imply that Tom Selleck is or was a homosexual.”
PERLMAN HONORED Violinist Itzhak Perlman accepted the first Interlochen Arts Award after a sold-out concert Sunday at the famed summer arts camp in Interlochen, Mich. Perlman said, ”At a time when education in the arts is being severely hampered by lack of funding, Interlochen serves as a shining example for educational arts organizations throughout the world.”
