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>
>