Chautauqua of Mark Twain by McAvoy Layne

Mark Twain will share how, as Samuel Clemens, he traveled from the Mississippi River to Nevada Territory and why he came west. He will describe what he saw when he got here in 1861, and if he really took his pen name "Mark Twain" while living in Nevada. This lighthearted, humorous, yet rigorously researched Chautauqua presentation examines Nevada through the eyes of one of America’s greatest literary figures. Offering fresh insight into the much loved writer, this presentation is intended to motivate the reading of good books and inspire the pursuit of creative writing.

McAvoy Layne kicks off the Dangberg Rang Chautauqua series on June 22 at 6:30 p.m. For more than twenty five years, in over four thousand performances from Leningrad University in Russia to Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City, Chautauquan McAvoy Layne has been dedicated to preserving the wit and wisdom of Mark Twain. “It’s like being a Monday through Friday preacher, whose sermon, though not reverently pious, is fervently American”, comments Layne.

The Chautauqua Series is sponsored by Soaring NV, Bently Enterprises, Carson Valley Accounting, Horse Tales Publications, Carson Valley Times, Carson Valley Inn and the Frances C. and William P. Smallwood Foundation. This series is also made possible with the assistance of Nevada Humanities, an independent affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Layne is a winner of the Nevada award for Excellence in School and Library Service, and the author of a soon-to-be published memoir Becoming Mark Twain. He played the ghost of Samuel Clemens on television’s A&E biography of Mark Twain, and in the Discovery Channel’s Cronkite Award-winning documentary Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Tickets are $5 for adults, free for 16 and younger. Tickets are available in Gardnerville at Battle Born Wine, in Minden at 88 Cups And More and can also be purchased at dangberg.eventbrite.com. Unless sold out, tickets will also be available at the gate.

The park is located at 1450 Hwy 88, ¼ mile north of the Carson Valley Veterinary Hospital. This is an outdoor event, and visitors should bring their own seating. Dogs are not permitted at this event.

Other Chautauqua Series performances coming up at the park include Chautauqua Trio: Patty Reed, Hank Monk and Warren Wasson on July 7; and Virgil Earp: The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral on July 20. The park’s full 2016 event schedule is available at the park’s website, http://www.dangberghomeranch.org/.