Report of My Death

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"The report of my death was an exaggeration" was an expression derived from a statement by the American writer, Mark Twain, which appeared in the New York Journal of June 2 1897, in response to the newspapers's false account of Twain’s being ill or dead. It appeared that some reports confused Twain’s cousin James Ross Clemens, who was seriously ill in London at the time, with Mark Twain. The whole statement reads:

“I can understand perfectly how the report of my illness got about, I have even heard on good authority that I was dead. James Ross Clemens, a cousin of mine, was seriously ill two or three weeks ago in London, but is well now. The report of my illness grew out of his illness. The report of my death was an exaggeration.”