Last night I watched the second half of the life of Mark Twain. He was one writer who made good money on his writings and on his lectures. His wife had also inherited an amazingly beautiful home in Hartford, Connecticut and his wife had decorated it lovingly. They had three daughters and lived very happily in the that lovely place.
At a time when $500 a month was considered good income, they were spending $30,000 a year just to run the house with the servants (many) and costs of a home. I am not sure if that included their lavish entertaining habits.
But Mark Twain didn't want to write for a living anymore and so he invested in different inventions-$25,000 here and there and none of them were successful. One observation was that his artistic brain did not have the caution of a good businessman and he was not questioning the things he should, much too reckless.
Eventually they had to declare bankruptcy, shut the house and travel around the world giving lectures to make money. He was able to pay everyone back but their life was never the same.
It reminded me of the talk I heard at James' college graduation that warned them of what happens so often...a person graduates, gets a great career, and then loses because of letting other people manage or invest their money. Anyway a lecture on how important is to learn to protect your earnings and be wise in all things.
I can say Amen to all of this. Anyway the two part series on Mark Twain was on PBS--so worth watching.
Last night I watched about the sculpturing of the Mt. Rushmore president heads, that was a story I did not know. So interesting to find out how it all came about, and how long it took and at what a cost. One thing that impressed me most was the beautiful skin that the one daughter had, who was reporting. Reminded me of the complexion of my lady dermatologist--perfect and flawless with not a blemish. Now that to me is really amazing!!!
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