Register

Moralists in Disguise

Mark Twain Meets the Twilight Zone

What do Mark Twain and Rod Serling have in common? Join author and actor Mark Dawidziak for a fascinating online program to find out!

"Moralists in Disguise" explores the many intriguing personal and professional parallels between Mark Twain and Rod Serling, two authors with profound connections to both Ohio and upstate New York. Both writers lived and worked in Cincinnati as young men. Both writers would retreat to upstate New York each summer with their families – Twain to Quarry Farm in Elmira, Serling to a cabin on Cayuga Lake. Both were internationally recognized celebrities (rare for a writer). But those are just a few of the many fascinating points of comparison linking these two iconic American writers. Most importantly, each became master of form he used to disguise moral lessons -- humor for Twain and fantasy for Serling.

Mark Dawidziak is the author of Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone, first published in hardcover by St. Martin's Press in 2017. The paperback edition, with three new chapters, was just published. His many other books include five about Mark Twain: Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing, Horton Foote's The Shape of the River: The Lost Teleplay About Mark Twain, Mark Twain's Guide to Diet, Exercise, Beauty, Fashion, Investment, Romance, Health and Happiness, Mark Twain in Ohio and Mark Twain for Cat Lovers. He has been portraying Mark Twain on stage for 40 years. He also is the author of two acclaimed books about landmark television series: The Columbo Phile: A Casebook and The Night Stalker Companion. His most recent book, The Shawshank Redemption Revealed, looks at the history and the impact of the beloved film based on the Stephen King story.

Please note: this program will be hosted on Zoom.  Registration is required in order to attend.  Clicking on the Register button on the left will take you to the Zoom to register for the program.

Upcoming events