John R. Clarke

              JOHN R. CLARKE
Orator   Vocalist   Mimic   Actor   Traveler
SEASON OF 1903-1904


At times you have the drollery of Sol Smith Russell and the impassioned eloquence of Gough



UNDER THE DIRECTION OF
THE INTERSTATE LECTURE BUREAU CO.
R. S. MORNINGSTAR, GENERAL MANAGER
610 NEAVE BUILDING, CINCINNATI, OHIO,   KANSAS CITY, MO.




JOHN R. CLARKE
THIS season will inaugurate the twenty-sixth one upon the platform in the United States and Canada, of JOHN R. CLARKE, the Lecture Entertainer; and in presenting his name to our patrons, we say no course is complete without him.  We have watched his course, and from all points come the most flattering reports of his success.  He has received more than the average number of recalls, which is the strongest proof of a successful lecturer.  JOHN R. CLARKE is no experiment, and in his line he is inimitable, striking a responsive chord every time by his droll originality and good common sense, while his wit, humor and pathos, in dialect, song and story, are happily blended.  His well known Chautauqua success, To and Fro in London, has been given over nineteen hundred times.  He is a perfect mimic and master of all the dialects.  JOHN R. CLARKE is the JOHN B. GOUGH of the Lyceum platform.



SUBJECTS

To and Fro in London
Given since its Delivery at Chautauqua, N. Y., over 1,900 times.
Hits and Misses
A Unique Success.
John B. Gough, The Platform King
In humor, dialect and eloquence.  A delightful and entertaining effort.
The Rose, Shamrock and Thistle
Merrie England, Ould Ireland, Bonnie Scotland, in Oratory, Song and Story.
A braham Lincoln
In Wit, Humor, Drollery and Power.



THE INTERSTATE LECTURE BUREAU CO.



To and Fro in London is the finest effort I have ever heard.—Rev. Dr. Todd, of Escanaba, Mich.


Mimetic, moral, eloquent, dialectic, very entertaining.—
Garner (Iowa) Democrat.


The lecture from start to finish was very entertaining.—
Burlington (Iowa) Hawkeye.

He approaches John B. Gough nearer than any living man.  Get Clarke—James Bridie, Sec'y Y. M. C. A., Newcastle, Pa.



 PRESS BRON & WHITKER HAMILTON OHIO



From Press and Public
John R. Clarke gave his To and Fro in London before a fashionable audience here to-night and delighted every one present.  He is a most versatile speaker, displaying rare talent as a mimic, actor and vocalist.  It is a pleasure for me to recommend him to the public as a first-class entertainer.

OTTO WETTSTEIN, Manager Opera House, Rochelle, Ill.


We attended a lecture in the elegant Dominion church of the city.  The orator of the evening was John R. Clarke, his theme, To and Fro in London, and the speaker and the subject proved to be wonderfully attractive, and all who heard him seemed glad he was to remain a second night.  Such mimicry, eloquence, dialect, song, story, and philosophy have rarely been brought before a Canadian audience.  Come again, John R. Clarke, many times you are welcome.—
Ottawa (Canada) Citizen.


To and Fro in London, the second of the winter Chautauqua series of entertainments, took place at the opera house.  The speaker, John R. Clarke, of Buffalo, is one of the best known and most popular lecturers before the public.  He is noted as a humorist, and such he is; yet his humor is of that character which teaches a valuable lesson while it amuses and entertains the hearer.  To and Fro in London is a hasty sketch of the world's great metropolis, past and present, and includes especially its noted places and celebrated men.  So vividly does he describe these that the hearer forgets himself and imagines that he is with the speaker, and seeing and feeling with the speaker's interest.  It is this power of putting life into things seen and described, together with his ability to see and touch upon the humorous side of things, which enables Mr. Clarke to so successfully hold and entertain his audience.—
Spencer, Iowa.

The lecture of John R. Clarke—To and Fro in London—given in the Normal Lecture Course at Mount Pleasant, Mich., was a most masterly effort.  The Opera House was packed with an exceedingly fine audience of teachers, students and prominent citizens.  Words can hardly express the delight felt by all as the speaker for over two hours developed scene after scene in the marvelous drama of London life.  The lecture was a triumph of oratory, replete in touches of the truest eloquence, brilliant wit, and stirring incident, eliciting cheer after cheer from the appreciative audience.

C. F. R. BELLOWS, M. A., Principal Central Michigan Normal School.

Mount Pleasant, Mich., Feb. 12, 1894.

John R. Clarke's lecture To and Fro in London is a great treat.  With a memory of exceptional power and precision, he has a rich and flowing diction, backed by keen intellectual discrimination and deep conviction of right and righteousness.  His full and intimate knowledge of history and literature, together with varied experiences and wide observation in actual life, make him able not only to thoroughly entertain, but at the same time to instruct.  Mr. Clarke possesses the characteristics of genius in his chosen work.

CLARK M. YOUNG. Professor of History and Political Science.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA, VERMILLION, S. D., March 14, 1898.}



I heard John R. Clarke lecture and, listening, said:  Here is another of those great-hearted, sunny-souled, silver-tongued mortals, sent to cheer and hearten this old world.  If word of mine shall speed his work, those who hear him have the gain.

REV. ROB'T MCINTYRE, D. D. Chicago.




Clarke is one of those rare men so seldom met, who has learned the secret avenue of the human soul.  His lecture, To and Fro in London, is full of ethics of humanity, wit, humor, and pathos.  He holds his hearers at his command.  Moral teaching, like a golden thread, glistens through it all.  And the beauty of all is, one enjoys a delicious, satisfying after-taste, like good cheese after dinner.  Don't fail to hear John R. Clarke, if ever and whenever the opportunity occurs.—
Detroit Free Press.

The opera house lecture course is in its third notch.  Everybody has been pleased so far.  Dowling was good, Jahu Miller was very good, and now comes John R. Clarke, that whirlwind of a talker, that blizzard of an orator, who hurls poetry, fiction, prophecy, art, morals. fun, in such avalanche of eloquence upon his audience as to make them forget the speaker and the subject, and remember only the meteor that flashes across their sky for two brief hours.  Everybody will remember John R. Clarke who went (To and Fro in London) with him last season.  There is no other such lecturer now upon the platform.

COL. CHIL HAZARD, Monongahela City (Pa.) Republican.

Mr. John R. Clarke closed our lecture course with To and Fro in London last Tuesday eve.  Mr. Clarke fairly captivated his audience at the very outset and held them spell-bound, as it were, for over two hours in constant expectancy as the eloquent words of the speaker vividly portrayed the marvelous scenes of the Lecture City.  The lecture, abounding in lofty description, pure moral sentiment, sublimity of thought and sparkling wit, together with the speaker's enthusiasm, adaptability to his audience and apparent unconsciousness of the display of superior oratorical ability, places him above any other lecturer welcomed to this place.  The general comment of teachers, business men and others is, that this entertainment was well worth the price of the whole course, which included some of the best talent in the country.  Should Quincy maintain another lecture course, John R. Clarke would be among the numbers, if possible to secure him.

Yours very respectfully,
F. J. S. TOOZE, Superintendent Quincy (Mich.) Union Schools.

It is useless to attempt to give the public an intelligent idea of John R. Clarke as a lecturer and entertainer.  No man ever pleased a Goshen audience as he did in his lecture To and Fro in London.  Truer words weren ever spoken of any lecturer than when one of the daily papers said, He is a polished actor-orator.

E. W. BAKER, Manager of Baker Lecture Course.

Goshen, Ind., Jan. 22, 1898.


Asbury church was filled last evening by people who had come to hear John R. Clarke repeat his To and Fro in London.  It is a very entertaining effort in oratory, pathos, dash, descriptive passages, stories of real life, bits of autobiography, sketches of great men, all strung together in a way to keep his audiences delighted with his bright and racy effort.  John R. Clarke, with his world's metropolis before him, is a most charming speaker.  The fund of stories, hits at all sorts of people, and pictures of all sorts of lives, seemed inexhaustible.  To and Fro in London, as given by John R. Clarke is a delightful kaleidoscope.

To and Fro in London, given by John R. Clarke at the Opera House last evening, is certainly one of the most entertaining, unique and refreshing lectures on the American platform to-day.

A. M. SPRAGUE, Barb City Camp, No. 46, M. W. A.

DeKalb, Ill., December 3, 1897.


The renowned lecturer and prince of good fellows, John R. Clarke, delivered his great lecture, To and Fro in London, at the opera house Monday night to a large audience, and for two hours the assemblage listened entranced to his graphic description of the many nooks and crannies of literary and architectural London.  He is gifted with a pleasing voice and magnificent power of oratory, in which is admirably blended the best of wit, humor and pathos, that brings him in close touch with his hearers.  Never has it been our pleasure of hearing so great an entertainer, and at the same time deriving such wholesome enjoyment from his words, gestures and indescribable magnetism, which draws all toward him Not only does he entertain audiences from the platform, but his brilliancy of conversation attracts friends and admirers.—
Fayette (Mo.) Herald.


There has not been on the Chautauqua platform this year so remarkable a man as John R. Clarke, nor has there been given so unique and individual an address.  It was delivered in the amphitheatre and listened to by a large and attentive audience.  He held the crowd with a firm hand from the beginning to the close, and many of his good hits were greeted with tremendous applause.  His theme—To and Fro in London—gave him a wide range of subjects on which to treat, and he handled his material with the skill of an experienced workman.  His address is easy and dignified; his flow of language abundant, and at all times was he master of himself and subject.  In regard to the inner life of the greatest city on the globe his lecture is full of information.  It was a combination of history, travel, gossip, wit, humor and experience, all tinged with the religion and philosophy of life.—
The Chautauqua (N. Y.) Assembly Herald.




John R. Clarke delivered his inimitable lecture entitled Hits and Misses, to a very large and appreciative audience.  It is a melange of impersonation, wit, humor, drollery, pathos, and eloquence; at one time throwing his audience into convulsive laughter by his mimicry; at another causing a tear to flow by his magnetic pathos.  It was a treat of rare excellence.  Mr. Clarke sustained his reputation as being one of the foremost entertainers on the platform of to-day.—
Pittsburg (Pa.) Leader.



It is with pleasure I write of John R. Clarke as a lecturer.  He is much liked by the people.  I hear only good of his lectures.  They are eloquent and uplifting.  May success go with him.

SAMUEL PHELPS LELAND, LL. D.

Charles City, Iowa, December 22, 1897.

John R. Clarke is inimitable as a lecturer.  He recently gave his lecture, To and Fro in London, in the Morrison Y. M. C. A. lecture course, and the large and highly delighted audience would be larger still if he should return.  A few years ago while I was pastor in Waukegan, Ill., Mr. Clarke was our guest for a few days.  During the time he lectured in the Baptist Church, and the audience was enthusiastically delighted.  Each day and hour that he was with us was made a literary and social feast by his song and wit and happy quotation and irresistible humor.  In the home he is a benediction.  On the lecture platform he is a veritable John B. Gough.  He is simply inimitable.  If you have him lecture once, you will have him again if you can get him.

LOREN T. BUSH, Pastor Baptist Church, Morrison, Ill., Feb. 17, 1898.

John R. Clarke has been here and has captured the people; the expectations of all had been raised to a high pitch by the reputation that had preceded his appearance here, but to say that these were fully realized would be to use a weak expression indeed.  His eloquence is like the roaring cataract, and to follow his lightning transitions is all that an ordinary mind can do when put to its utmost tension.

F. E. HIRSCH, Charles City, Iowa, Lecture Course.

John R. Clarke, the entertainer, has given three lectures on the Thousand Island Platform this season.  He has carried the people by storm.  He is a marvelous man in variety, humor, pathos and eloquence.

M. D. KINNEY, President Thousand Island Park Association.

God made him an orator, and what God makes is not a failure.

REV. GEO. W. CHANDLER, A. M. Lockport, N. Y.