By Chetan Datta Poduri
(Based on True lives)
Disclaimer. With apologies to everyone.
In the market several ‘instantly get rich’ books are available. And of course, these are available in all languages as well. But the twist in the tale is that the author might not have followed the advice s/he dispenses through their writings. Samuel Langhorne Clemens, who is popular through his pen name as ‘Mark Twain’, is an example in context.
Every English fiction reader worth his name would have read Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain is one of those rare writers who achieved success and fame during his lifetime through his writings. He earned a substantial amount of money from his works.
Twain is also famous for quotes and predictions. He made two accurate predictions. The most popular one was about his death. Twain was born in the year 1835 CE when Halley’s Comet made its appearance. Twain wrote in 1909 CE that he was born when Halley’s comet appeared in 1835 CE and when it would appear next (i.e., in the year 1910 CE), it would be a great disappointment if they both didn’t go out together. True to his words, Twain died of heart attack shortly after Halley’s comet’s closest approach to the Sun.
Perhaps a lesser-known prediction is in Twain’s quote, “Buy land, they are not making it anymore”. Yet Twain rarely invested in land. His favourite investment was science and technology. During his lifetime, Twain is reported to have unwisely invested about US$300,000 (present-day valued at approx. US$8 million) in failed technologies. All this in a span of about 14 years which not only speaks volumes about his loss but also about Twain’s earning’s through writings. Added to this, Twain’s children’s poor health put him in financial difficulties. He is said to have even filed for bankruptcy. Nevertheless, at the time of his death, Twain owned an estate valued at US$471,000 (present-day value about US$11 million). Ironically, Twain’s family fizzled out either to disease or to alcoholism and pills.
On the other hand, a lesser-known individual who’s a contemporary of Twain, a Mr. Friedrich Trump, a German emigrant to United States of America, invested heavily in land, real estate, hotels and brothels. By 1904 CE, Trump is said to have visited his home country Germany upon insistence of his wife whence he is believed to have deposited an amount in the excess of US$600,000 into a bank.
Trump invested in land heavily in America. Owing to his German credentials, Trump maintained a low-profile during world war I. However, due to flu and secondaries, Trump died in the year 1918 CE. Trump’s wife and his son continued the real estate projects after Trump’s death. Trump’s legacy lives in the form of present-day American President Donald Trump who happens to be Friedrich’s grandson.
Note. It is not known to the present author whether Friedrich knew about Twain’s predictions.
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Chetan Datta Poduri is a doctorate in Biotechnology. After about a decade of teaching in premier institutes across India, Chetan turned to full-time Writing. Also, presently Chetan self-finances his research. More about him at https://cdpoduri.wordpress.com/
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