Page 63 - Firehouse Pond

MARK TWAIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
MCHS

He was a famous writer – right? I remember very little about attending

school in Charleston, except that my school was named Mark Twain School.

The school was not a place of learning and social events for me. I was a kid

from a “Cotton Picker” family. The “Cotton Picker” classification was
usually associated with being dirt poor, stupid, low class and unclean.

I was a small boy. I was skinny and had poor eyesight. I had to repeat the

third grade because of my eyesight and tardiness. I had no idea what it meant
to be dirt poor until I was much older. I was ignorant, but I was never stupid.
There is a difference.

As for being low class and unclean, I can only defend by saying I had a
loving mother, grandmother, and grandfather. We read and studied the Bible

and we attended church every Sunday.