Showing results by narrator "Richard Henzel" in All Categories

These five stories were previously released as stand-alone pieces. They've been compiled here into one collection.

In this unabridged recording of one of Mark Twain's lesser-known short stories, the "campaign of crime" referred to was a rash of robberies, arson, racketeering, and murders in Connecticut, where the author was living at that time. Alternatively funny, disturbing, and self-revelatory, an abridged performance of this piece has been part of Richard Henzel's Jefferson Award nominated stage show Mark Twain In Person since 1979.

There are adventures galore on the way to that climactic episode in the mining camps of northern California, as young Sam Clemens sets off on the Overland Stage line, recording the fauna, flora, and humanity of The Wild West. He tastes condemned army bacon, "slumgullion," and Mormon "Valley Tan." He buys a genuine Mexican plug. He hazards death from freezing in a blizzard, drowning in a desert, dissolving in an alkali lake, and roasting in a forest fire.

Have you ever wondered what campground hosts really do, other than hang around and shoot the breeze with everyone? Ever wanted to try it out? Sunny Skye, RV meistro par excellance, reveals the tricks of the trade, which are mostly just a combination of patience and earplugs. She'll have you laughing, shaking your head at human behavior, and wondering if those hikers she gave directions to will ever find their way back to camp. And then there's the story of Bunnicula, the bunny who crashes the campground...well, we won't spoil it, just read it for yourself.

Time is running out for America. Solomon “Rose” Rosenberg was a veteran of C Street, a government lawyer, and a bipolar CIA assassin, who sacrificed everything - even his sanity - for his country. Rose documented his many B6 missions and Jacqueline has proof that the very essence of democracy is being tested. There is nowhere in the world to hide as the men of C Street are advancing with each step - Jacqueline races toward the cataclysmic finish as espionage, sex, drugs, and murder haunt her at every turn.

A man of many firsts, Mark Twain was the first author to use the typewriter and the first person to have a telephone in his home (which no doubt made him the first person to swear at tech support!). He patented the accordion file, the fountain pen, and adjustable suspenders. And when he published "deleted scenes" from Pudd'nhead Wilson as Those Extraordinary Twins, he became the first publisher to include "bonus tracks" as well as the finished work.

Young Lord Berkeley has discovered that his family's title and wealth was fraudulently obtained by previous generations, and announces to his his father, Lord Rossmore, that he intends to travel to America, there to return the Earldom of Rossmore to the rightful heir, along with all of its wealth, titles, and privilege, and to begin his life over again—"begin it right—begin it on the level of mere manhood, unassisted by factitious aids, and succeed or fail by pure merit or the want of it."

Life in the nursing home is boring, so you decide to just wander away one day in search of adventure and excitement. You find a golf cart that someone has left nearby, while they search for their lost ball. It's your ticket to freedon and you drive away with the cops not far behind on your trail. Not exactly a high-speed chase scenario, but you still leave chaos in your wake. It's a day the rest of the town will remember. You've left your mark, and now it's nap time.

Douglas Howard's career as a small-town physician is crumbling. Enraptured by Mrs. King, the calculating wife of a wealthy but dying patient, they settle behind closed doors, determined to stave off loneliness and save his career. Equally desperate is Dr. Howard's beguiling secretary, Miss Derringer, whose own troubles become their own. What follows is a fatal scandal and an exploration of human expression, desire and manipulation all in the name of love.

Mark Twain expected to create a new form of autobiography in which "I shall talk about the matter which for the moment interests me, and cast it aside and talk about something else the moment its interest for me is exhausted." These transcriptions of his off-the-cuff telling of his own history allow one to feel as if he is listening to the great storyteller one-on-one.

Well known as a "children's book," The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is rich in eloquent and sophisticated language, and filled with realistic characters who become locked in life and death struggles.There is a murder, stolen treasure, and death by starvation. Add to that a love story, a buddy story, and a family drama.

You have lived with your sister all your life and now you're comfortable with your day to day routines. She dies and you feel lost. What else can go wrong? How about a break-in at your house while you're out? Burglars steal the one thing you could not live without. But wait, your sister may still be able to help with justice and retribution. But how's that possible?

It's 1964. Philip Duran has been driving all night to make a sales meeting in the wee hours of the morning in Hollywood. Vern Grayson has the purchasing power at MGM. Mr. Duran's new invention could be just the thing MGM needs to pull ahead of its competitors, but can Duran convince Grayson to buy his contraption? Find out here, because Philip Duran will do, anything for a sale.

This is the story of Mark Twain's brief career as a Confederate soldier at the beginning of the American Civil War. Mark Twain's "private history" is told from the viewpoint of "someone who set out to do something in the war, but didn't". What starts out as a kind of class reunion/camping trip quickly becomes a series of frightful near misses with a determined and deadly foe, and ends in painful, premature death for some and a lifetime of guilty regrets for others.

Lillian opens the door and a man is standing there with a gun. He forces his way into her home and tells her he plans to kill her husband when he gets home. Why? What'd he ever do to this punk? Uh-oh, here comes her husband. Now what?

Ready for some stories about the more mysterious side of Bigfoot by the World's Greatest Bigfoot Story Teller? Turn all the lights on, close the curtains, tie your shoes in case you need to flee, and prepare yourself for some thrills as Rusty brings you 16 all new and original stories.

Hank Morgan is a mechanic, an engineer, and a foreman at the Colt Arms Factory. One day he gets into an argument, "conducted with crowbars," with an employee known as "Hercules." A blow to Hank's head sends him back to King Arthur's England in the Sixth Century.

Jack Erthmun does not believe that the dead actually speak to him. But in their own way they tell him so much. Jack is a New York City police detective with his own very peculiar ways of solving homicides, and those ways are beginning to frighten his colleagues. He gets results, but at what cost? What's happening to Jack Erthmun? This may be Jack's last case - he's assigned to a series of unspeakable killings, gruesome murders with details that make even seasoned detectives queasy.

This ain't no Jimmy Stewart Christmas movie. A policeman patrols the downtown area during the Christmas season, checking knobs and keeping the neighborhood safe. His rounds take him past the bridge on the edge of town where he sees a man standing on the railing, contemplating jumping to his death. Can our friendly neighborhood cop talk him out of it and give him a reason to live? Sometimes it's better to just mind your own business.

The death of Mark Twain's daughter, Jean Clemens, occurred early in the morning of December 24, 1909. A few hours later Twain was writing steadily. "I am setting it down," he said, "everything. It is a relief to me to write it. It furnishes me an excuse for thinking."