Giant Mark Twain
New London, Missouri
Several miles outside of Hannibal, which is ground zero for all things Mark Twain, stands this towering tribute.
Twain is one of those instantly recognizable characters who can withstand a less-than-perfect likeness, even one thirty feet tall. This one breaks many sculptural conventions, with withered arms, disproportionately tiny fists, and a flat, almost 2-D perspective. Rust bleeds from various points on Twain's body, betraying a metal skeleton beneath his stucco exterior. Twain has a hook atop his head and holds a barely visible cigar. His half-open mouth looks like it's ready to bite someone.
According to a small monument between Twain's legs, he was sculpted by someone named Larry Koelling for an attraction named Clemens Landing. No one we spoke with in Hannibal knew anything about Larry, but that wasn't surprising: the statue is over 40 years old, and Clemens Landing is a shadow of its former self. In Koelling's day it was a resort with an outdoor theater that staged a nighttime two-hour Twain drama with a replica Hannibal and 50-foot-long riverboat.
Now it's just a campground, and only the mighty mega-Twain remains.