The Modern Tom and Becky

I suspect that if Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher were able to step into modern Hannibal from the pages of their book they'd end up at the riverside for the YMCA mud volleyball tournament, which my old colleague at the Daily Telegraph in London--Toby Harnden--reported on last July. As Twain understood, mud and childhood go together, especially in that childhood paradise he created in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, where Hannibal is transformed into the All-American sleepy river town of St. Petersburg. 

Julian Simmonds took the photo below in Hannibal, Missouri, on July 4, 2009. He is one of the great photographers for the Telegraph, which has a long tradition of running first-rate pictures with feature articles. For more examples of his fine work, check out this gallery at the Telegraph site.