Actually Bush moved to Texas a young child and was raised there through his formative years. Twain moved to Connecticut in his late 30's. The "passed himself off as a Texan" phrasing by the QM is simply wearing his politics on his sleeve.
burt... give us a break. Nothing political about that statement. Bush's Texan roots were mostly a contentious issue when he was running for office in Texas. And he *did* have to endeavor to prove his Texan bona fides. Nationally, nobody gave a flip, and it was never an issue.
One could argue that while Samuel Clemens was from Missouri, Mark Twain was largely from Connecticut, having moved there not long after he assumed the pen name..
He became Mark Twain in 1863 while working for a newspaper in Virginia City, NV. He moved to CA for a few years, did a world tour, and he didn't move to CT until 1870, after marrying a woman from NY. They moved to Europe for several years during their marriage, and he died in CT in 1910. He is buried in NY. He may have lived more years in CT, but he seemed to have been "from" a lot of places and the name Mark Twain was from the western US.
Are you considering Missouri and the Mississippi River to be the western US? Clemens' pen name originated from his time as a river boat pilot on the Mississippi (although he may have adopted the name at a different period of his life).
For those unfamiliar, the boat's leadsman stationed at the bow would cry out the depth, using the vernacular of the river. "Mark twain" (two fathoms), or 12 feet, was a safe depth for most riverboats.
Why would someone who lives in Texas try to "pass himself off as a Texan ". They would be, by definition, a Texan. That's like a legal American immigrant having to pass themselves off as being an American. The terms "Texan" and "American" simply refer to where you live or have citizenship citizenship, nothing else.
If you are going to include Benedict Arnold, you should include Nathan Hale (Coventry). And if including pop musicians (ugh!), Karen and Richard Carpenter (New Haven/East Haven) merit inclusion.
Other than Chris Berman's shtick wearing a little thin over the years, the one thing that....I guess "irked" is the right word...me was that the phase he is noted for above was a mimicry of Howard Cosell's halting, over-enunciated deliver, but was inaccurate.
Cosell didn't pause after EVERY word. The word "the" was never given its own note, so to speak. Berman's impersonation should have been, "He could.....go.....all.....the way!" (treating "the way" as almost one single word)
That would've more accurately reflected Cosell's call.
Barnum never said that. It's debatable who actually did, but it was likely David Hannum, regarding people going to see PT Barnum's copy of his Cardiff Giant hoax.
"As the newspapers reported Barnum's version of the story, David Hannum was quoted as saying, "There's a sucker born every minute" in reference to spectators paying to see Barnum's giant. Since then, the quotation has often been misattributed to Barnum himself." ~ Wikipedia
Benedict Arnold was born British in 1741, so one might argue his betrayal was joining the "rebel scum" (quote from Star Wars) of the independence movement before realising his error. Of course, as a Brit, I am a little biased. :)
For those unfamiliar, the boat's leadsman stationed at the bow would cry out the depth, using the vernacular of the river. "Mark twain" (two fathoms), or 12 feet, was a safe depth for most riverboats.
Cosell didn't pause after EVERY word. The word "the" was never given its own note, so to speak. Berman's impersonation should have been, "He could.....go.....all.....the way!" (treating "the way" as almost one single word)
That would've more accurately reflected Cosell's call.
"As the newspapers reported Barnum's version of the story, David Hannum was quoted as saying, "There's a sucker born every minute" in reference to spectators paying to see Barnum's giant. Since then, the quotation has often been misattributed to Barnum himself." ~ Wikipedia
Caroll Spinney (Big Bird/Oscar the Grouch) and Brian Dennehy, both long time residents of Woodstock. (Dennehy born in Bridgeport)