[lentulusgracchus]

Kipling nearly became a U.S. citizen .... he was living in Brattleboro in 1894, but some half-assed diplomatic rumpus between the U.S. and Britain led to some things being said, and then some other things being said, and he went home to England. His writing changed, btw, it is said, and he was never quite the same again. Somewhat dispirited, we are told, as if he'd been deflected from his life's trajectory.

He'd have made a hell of an addition to New England letters.

[lentulusgracchus]

Oh, and his return to England eventually delivered his son to the meatgrinder of Flanders ..... something he never got over, ever.

[TalBlack]

“He’d have made a hell of an addition to New England letters.”

Twain absolutely loved Kipling and late in his own career when one might expect an old hand to snipe at the rising talent. That right there backs your position (it also says a hell of a lot about Kipling’s power of expression).