Starting in 1972 and continuing for several years, Heri performed as Mark Twain in his own one-man show under his real name James Pulsifer. This led to appearing as Twain in an advertising campaign for Western Airlines, as well as performing the one-man show for the Delta King riverboat theater in his hometown. An illustrator, Heri was employed at Marine World briefly as a sketch artist, and illustrated his first novel and the graphic version adapted from it.