"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" is a misquote often attributed to which American author?

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" is a popular misquote attributed to author Samuel Clemens, known by his pen name, Mark Twain. The humorous quote is based on a letter Twain sent to a newspaper reporter who had asked Twain about rumors that he was dying.

Most of the commonly-heard versions using “greatly exaggerated” or “grossly exaggerated” are misquotes. As noted in many scholarly books of quotations and explained in reference materials on popular quotes, what Twain actually said was “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

The origin of the more familiar misquote versions of Twain’s response seems to be an embellished anecdote in Chapter 197 of the biography "Twain" by Albert Bigelow Paine, which was published in 1912, two years after Twain’s death.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) was an American humorist, journalist, novelist and social critic, born in Florida, Missouri. To obtain a true understanding of this man's persona, just note respectively what William Faulkner said in a 1955 interview and Ernest Hemingway wrote in "Green Hills of Africa" (1935). It was noted: "Mark Twain was the first truly American writer, and all of us since are heirs…. I call him the father of American literature." And, "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884).... It's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since."