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By MARY LOU MONTGOMERY
Of the Courier-Post

Capt. Mark Twain - that's the name J. Fred Schwartz has chosen for the statue of the famous author now standing on Glascock's Landing on Hannibal's riverfront. The statue, which was donated by Schwartz and his family and dedicated on July 4, 2003, reflects a young Samuel Clemens, at the age of about 23, as he looked while a steamboat captain on the Mississippi River.

The likeness was suggested by Twain loyalist Dave Thomson, a retired artist for Walt Disney (and company) who makes his home in the Los Angeles area. He supplied three photos from his extensive collection of Twain memorabilia, and Schwartz and his three sons submitted the image that they liked best for final approval from the Mark Twain Historic Board.

The selection of the final image was a time-consuming and frustrating experience, Schwartz said.

He chose a company in China to make the statue, because 20 years ago he saw an example of its work and was impressed with the likeness. The company sent a model of the first proposed statue, and both Schwartz and the six local members of the historic board agreed that Twain was too old. Schwartz requested a second model, "and it got lost in the Los Angeles dock strike. We looked for it for between eight and nine months, and finally the company sent another by air freight at their expense. I couldn't get myself to accept this (second model)," Schwartz said. "I wanted Twain to have a captain's hat."

That's when Thomson offered his photo collection for Schwartz's perusal. "Dave e-mailed me these pictures. I sent one set of the pictures to my son in China, and the others to my two sons living here. There were three age groups: one age 23; one in the 30s; and one in his 40s. All three sons said, 'Dad, you have to go with the young guy with no hat on.' That was as good a general sample of the public as I could get."

Schwartz is proud of the statue that now stands watch on the riverfront.

"The statue is beautiful; it really did turn out nice. I worried and worried and worried, but when I went up there (where the statue was stored prior to installation) and cut the paper; it was worth the two-year fight. It was everything I wanted it to be."

One of the Schwartz's proudest moments during the dedication ceremonies came when 70 members of the Hannibal High School Band showed up to provide the instrumental music for the dedication. "I was told all winter that 25 band students would be all I could expect. They have 70 band students and all 70 came and played. They wanted to come and play for the ceremony. I was so proud they all wanted to come - at that age, they don't do much unless they want to."