One of the places that Becky and I visited in Galena, Illinois was the home of Ulysses S. Grant. Grant was a native of Galena, and after the Civil War, he returned home . . . penniless, destitute, not many prospects for work.
Fortunately for U.S. Grant, there were some old friends in Galena who purchased a home for him and furnished it. Later, after Grant was elected President and served his two terms, he settled in New York (and was later, of course, buried in Grant's Tomb). Near the end of his life, Grant was again destitute (it's amazing to know how many former Presidents, such as Washington, Jefferson and more, actually ended up their lives in utter financial ruin).
But fortunately for Grant, there was Mark Twain, who was then beginning to publish his own works (such as Huck Finn). Twain agreed to pay Grant a 10% royalty for his war memoirs, and Grant went to work on the writing. As Grant lay dying of throat cancer, he managed to finish his memoirs before expiring. Grant didn't see a dime from his work, but his family did receive more than $400,000 in royalties from his war memoirs, an enormous sum at the time (and not too shabby today!). Twain made more from Grant's work than he made from his own work to that point.
I can only hope this will happen to me. Someday, after I am gone, one of my books will catch a sudden wind and actually sell copies. My children and grandchildren will live in luxury. My wife will marry a sailor. I will be buried in a cardboard box behind the Krispy Kreme donut store. My heirs will be the ones driving the Mercedes. If you stop by to visit, drop a donut hole on my grave and say hello.
1 comment:
My favorite picture of Grant is of him sitting on his front porch in NY, bundled from head to toe, near death, and working on his memoirs.
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