Dear Mr. Miller, The experience you recount is testimony to Holbrook’s generosity and responsiveness. Thank you for sharing your memories with us! All the best, Shelley Fisher Fishkin > On Feb 18, 2021, at 11:11 AM, Warren Miller <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Dear Prof. Dawidziak, Prof. Fishkin, Prof. Harris, Prof. Seybold, and other > valued colleagues-- > > By way of introduction, I am not a Twain scholar. I was an academic for > four years in the mid-1980s, but my field was strategic management, not > literature. However, I feel enormously fortunate to be part of the Mark > Twain Forum because I have learned so much from this remarkable and learned > group.. > > Segue: I had the good fortune to have attended Culver Military Academy in > Indiana on a scholarship, 1958-61. Mr. Holbrook was also a Culver graduate, > Class of 1942. More than three decades after I graduated from > Culver--sometime in the mid-1990s--he brought 'Mark Twain Tonight!' to > Tulsa, where my beloved bride and I were living at the time. I wrote him a > note, said I was also a 'Culver Man' (as we were called in those days), and > asked if he would include Twain's 'The War Prayer' (link *is here > <https://warprayer.org/>*) in his performance. I then gave it to the head > usher with the request that he deliver it to Mr. Holbrook. I said that I > thought that Mr. Holbrook would be delighted to get my note. > > Sure enough, midway through Act II, Mr. Holbook did 'The War Prayer.' I was > awestruck and so appreciative. About ten days later, I got a handwritten > note from him saying that he had done it specifically for me and that he > hoped I had enjoyed it. I hurriedly replied and said that I had indeed > enjoyed it and thanked him profusely. > > I am so sad that he is no longer with us. Mr. Holbrook was a giant of an > actor for whose talents and contributions to American culture and to our > country's history we should all be grateful. > > Thank you for letting me weigh in and to be part of your wonderful Forum. > > Best regards-- > > Warren Miller, CPA, CFA > Beckmill Research, LLC > Lexington, Virginia > > On Wed, Feb 10, 2021 at 1:05 PM MARK DAWIDZIAK <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > >> And thank you to Matt and the Center for Mark Twain Studies for >> suggesting this remembrance and giving it a home where it can be shared >> with the extended family. Sharing memories of Hal certainly helps some, as >> does the realization that so many of us got to tell him how much he meant . >> . . and he got to return the favor by regularly acknowledging and >> celebrating how much Twain scholarship meant to him. We all lost a >> cherished and wonderful friend. >> >> On Tuesday, February 9, 2021, 3:03:53 PM EST, Harris, Susan Kumin < >> [log in to unmask]> wrote: >> >> What a wonderful essay! Thank you! --susan harris >> >> >> Susan K. Harris >> >> >> ________________________________ >> From: Mark Twain Forum <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Shelley Fisher >> Fishkin <[log in to unmask]> >> Sent: Tuesday, February 9, 2021 9:52 AM >> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> >> Subject: Re: Dawidziak on Holbrook >> >> “Thank you, Mark” seems a reductive expression of gratitude for this >> eloquent and moving tribute. It is such a gift that you were able to convey >> the appreciation of so many of us at that conference in Elmira when Hal was >> present, enabling him to hear how much he meant to us, and how much he had >> changed our lives. You were a wonderful friend to him and he appreciated >> you. You have also been a great friend to Mark Twain—and all of us. And we >> appreciate you, too! >> Shelley >> >> >> =============================== >> 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 Serra Mall, Stanford >> University, Stanford, CA 94305-2087 >> >> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenglish.stanford.edu%2Fpeople%2Fshelley-fisher-fishkin&data=04%7C01%7Cskh5%40KU.EDU%7C551e24678bce42862b4008d8cd136603%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C637484830490202986%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=yq%2FIp%2FqvsMBA%2FmToo9vp2Qc8OjH%2FdrnYQr02Bi%2BQANA%3D&reserved=0 >> >> >> >> >> On Feb 9, 2021, at 6:52 AM, Matthew Seybold <[log in to unmask]<mailto: >> [log in to unmask]>> wrote: >> >> I have read number Holbrook obituaries this past week, as I expect many of >> you have. None has come close to being as comprehensive, much less as >> personally touching, as Mark Dawidziak's: >> >> >> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmarktwainstudies.com%2Fhal-holbrook-an-appreciation-an-obituary-a-remembrance-a-friendship%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cskh5%40KU.EDU%7C551e24678bce42862b4008d8cd136603%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C637484830490212982%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=L0WfMo1Oaoglo8LqlXEJP%2BUGDTBdpNimWQvZParpNlg%3D&reserved=0 >> >> -- >> Matt Seybold >> Assistant Professor of American Literature & Mark Twain Studies >> Elmira College >> Editor, MarkTwainStudies.org >> MattSeybold.com >> >>