Steve Courtney is the author of Joseph Hopkins Twichell: The Life and Times of Mark Twain's Closest Friend, and "The Loveliest Home That Ever Was": The Story of the Mark Twain House in Hartford. After a 20-year career at The Hartford Courant, he worked at the Mark Twain House & Museum, whose archive forms the base of this collection. Cindy Lovell is the executive director of the Mark Twain House & Museum and holds a doctorate from the University of Iowa.