Mark Twain was 34 when his son Langdon was born in 1870. He was premature and weighed only four and a half pounds. When he was just three months old, his mother came down with typhoid and almost died while Twain was away on a lecture tour.
Against the odds, Langdon’s health improved and for a while he was "chubby and cheerful" but just when everything seemed to be going well, Langdon contracted diphtheria and died at only 19 months of age.
This was just one of the many losses that robbed Twain of his youthful optimism and deeply affected his writing.
Music: Erik Satie: Gnossienne No 1 La Pianista CC3.0
