Before my career as a best selling novelist, I lived an active life. I knew Captain Bemo, Doctor Momo, Buffalo Bill—still my hero—Annie Oakley—a peach of a woman—Wild Bill Hickok—a man's man . . . well, a seal's man as well—Sitting Bull—who invented the word stoic—I knew many others as well. I cruised beneath the seas in the Naughty Lass. I lived on the island with Doctor Momo when he made his beast men, and I am, in fact, a product of his handiwork. I even knew Tin, who came from a world far away, and I knew the Frankenstein Monster, who was one hell of a fine fella.
And I was there when the Martians came, and all the horrors that accompanied them. I was a companion of Samuel Clemens, otherwise known as the great novelist Mark Twain. I knew his friend, Jules Verne. I knew H. G. Wells. I knew the Lost Island. And I knew London when it was in flames. In my life, I have eaten many fish.
From The Autobiography of Ned the Seal, Adventurer Extraordinaire