OK, if not Goethe or Schiller, how about Nietzsche?

For one thing, his mustache is a heck of lot better than Twain's, plus 
he said a lot of witty Twainian things ("In heaven, all of the 
interesting people are missing").  But he might want to avoid that "God 
is dead" shtick; some audiences can be touchy.

As for Hal Holbrook, I can't add much to what I said in my elegy in the 
MTJ, but I cannot imagine anyone who ever met him didn't come away from 
that encounter without an indelible memory, and I think anyone who ever 
saw him in live performance as Mark Twain counts that experience as a 
blessing.

Kevin
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------ Original Message ------
From: "Wolfgang Hochbruck" 
<[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 1/24/2022 9:50:51 AM
Subject: Re: Hal Holbrook

>..what a remarkable story - thanks for sharing! I don't think Hal
>Holbrook ever toured Germany, i would have loved to see him. He may
>even have been a far distant relation; there is a story in the family
>that some great x 4 or so uncle changed his name to Holbrook upon
>arrival in the USA because people choked on the German "ch" and he
>didn't like the idea of being called Hogbrook --
>In the early 80s, there was a Twain impersonator on tour in Germany,
>and i saw him but i don't remember who it was nor was the tour
>particularly successful. At that time, nobody over here had ever heard
>of living history presentations, and teachers of German would likely
>have fainted at the idea of somebody impersonating Goethe or
>Schiller...
>
>best
>w
>
>
>
>On Mon, 24 Jan 2022 07:12:55 -0500
>  Warren Miller <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>Thank you for remembering Hal Holbook, Shelley.
>>
>>I had the good fortune to win a scholarship to attend Culver Military
>>Academy starting in the fall of 1958.  It was a fabulous and
>>life-changing
>>experience. I graduated in 1961. Having graduated from Culver in 1944,
>>Mr.
>>Holbrook had preceded me there by seventeen years. I saw him perform
>>once
>>there and several more times over the years. The last time was in the
>>early
>>1990s when my beloved bride and I lived in Tulsa. Before the curtain
>>went
>>up that night, I sent a note to him backstage; on the back of my
>>business
>>card, I said I was a Culver graduate and asked him if he would do 'The
>>War
>>Prayer' which I had seen the first time at Culver more than thirty
>>years
>>before. I had read that he chose what he was going to do in a given
>>performance as he went along, based on the audience's reaction to the
>>choices he was making. Sure enough, near the end of the evening, he
>>did the
>>'The War Prayer.' It was even more spectacular and moving than I had
>>remembered. I was thrilled.
>>
>>A couple of weeks later, I got a handwritten note from him in the
>>mail. He
>>thanked me for attending and said he hoped I enjoyed 'The War Prayer'.
>>I
>>was thrilled yet again and also humbled.
>>
>>What a wonderful, wonderful man. We lost a great American a year ago.
>>May
>>he rest in peace.
>>
>>Thank you again, Shelley.
>>
>>Warren Miller, CPA, CFA
>>Lexington, Virginia
>>
>>On Sun, Jan 23, 2022 at 10:58 AM Shelley Fisher Fishkin <
>>[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>>  One year ago today, on January 23rd, the world lost a gifted actor,
>>a
>>>  brilliant scholar of Mark Twain, and a kind, generous, and caring
>>human
>>>  being. Many of us on this list lost a  friend. Hal Holbrook Z”L —
>>May his
>>>  memory be a blessing.
>>>
>>>
>>>  ===============================
>>>  Shelley Fisher Fishkin
>>>  Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities; Professor of English, and
>>>  Director of American Studies, Stanford University
>>>  Mail: Department of English, Bldg. 460, 450 Jane  Stanford Way,
>>Stanford
>>>  University, Stanford, CA 94305-2087
>>>https://english.stanford.edu/people/shelley-fisher-fishkin <
>>>https://english.stanford.edu/people/shelley-fisher-fishkin>
>>>
>
>
>Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Hochbruck
>Dept. of English
>Centre for Security and Society
>Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg
>Rempart St. 15
>D-79098 Freiburg
>Germany
>