I had the great fortune of seeing Hal in Mark Twain Tonight 3 times and
once met him backstage. I did see the subtle changes he made to his act
depending on the reaction to certain jokes.  He even signed the poster for
the show that just happened to be on a table. I had tickets for his 90th
birthday show in Hartford but unfortunately there was a snowstorm and I
couldn't make it up from Pennsylvania.

I remember reading that he did have a chance to meet Clara in her older
years to try to get a sense of how accurate his impression was.  Thanks Hal
for keeping Twain's legacy alive.

Marty Baker
Mark Twain Circle


On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 9:50 AM David Matuszak <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> I had the pleasure of seeing Hal’s Twain show twice: about 25 years ago at
> the historic Bridges Auditorium at the Claremont Colleges and then again
> few years ago at the historic and refurbished Fox Theater in Riverside, CA.
>
> Hal invited me backstage during that show where I asked him his opinion
> about Twain’s reluctance to speak about his surfing attempt in the Sandwich
> Islands. I was finishing up a section I wrote about Twain for my epic (1550
> page) study of surfing history and culture, San Onofre: Memories of a
> Legendary Surfing Beach. Hal was puzzled too, as was everyone on this forum
> who responded to my request for feedback. Other than Twain’s mention of
> surfing in Roughing It, he rarely mentioned the experience. Perhaps as more
> small town newspapers around the country digitize their archive, other
> instances of him mentioning surfing during his lectures will surface.
>
> I’ll always fondly remember my short visit with Hal backstage, his
> gentleness and generosity to share his time with me. In terms of one-man
> shows, the best I ever saw were his Twain performances and James Whitmore’s
> Will Rogers show that I had the pleasure of seeing at the newly restored
> and grand re-opening of the California Theater in San Bernardino, CA.
> Ironically, Will Rogers made his last performance there before his fateful
> flight. Both Holbrook and Whitmore stand alone in their long-running
> one-man shows of two American icons.
>
> RIP, Hal,
> David Matuszak, author
> San Onofre: Memories of a Legendary Surfing Beach
> Pacific Sunset Publishing
> 30320 Live Oak Canyon Rd.
> Redlands, CA 92373-0668
>
> http://pacificsunset.com/?page_id=15 <http://pacificsunset.com/?page_id=15
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Feb 2, 2021, at 6:10 AM, L Oggel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks, John. Sorry to have this news. We all met him, more than once at
> > Elmira conferences.
> >
> > Terry
> >
> > <
> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon
> >
> > Virus-free.
> > www.avast.com
> > <
> https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link
> >
> > <#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
> >
> > On Tue, Feb 2, 2021 at 8:45 AM John R. Pascal <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/theater/hal-holbrook-dead.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage
> >> <
> >>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/theater/hal-holbrook-dead.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage
> >>>
> >>
> >> Thank God six classes of The Writings of Mark Twain got to know him.
> One
> >> class got to meet him.
> >> Future classes will continue to study and appreciate him.
> >>
> >> John R. Pascal, M.B.A., M.A.
> >> Teacher of 9th, 11th Grade English Honors, & The Writings of Mark Twain
> >> Honors
> >> Seton Hall Preparatory School
> >> Contributing Author to Mark Twain and Youth
>
>