The Kansas City Public Library celebrates the life and work of Mark Twain with Twain and His Times throughout February 2009. This program complements the Reading Missouri initiative, encouraging patrons to read Missouri writers.

The series begins with A Not So Innocent Abroad: The Travels of Mark Twain presented by Jane Wood on Monday, February 9, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Mark Twain caught the travel bug early and never shook it. His formative riverboat trips prepared Twain for cross-country expeditions and his later European adventures. These travels influenced his great works and inspired a series of travel writings that reveal much about the man.

Wood is chair of the English Department at Park University and specializes in the literature of travel writing.