Thanks for these, Kevin. Fascinating reading, as always. On Tue, Feb 2, 2021, 1:59 PM Mac Donnell Rare Books < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Losing Hal is a kick in the gut, and I don't have the energy to absorb > that news and write much at the same time, so I've pasted two texts > below. The first is extracted from a personal note I sent his assistant. > The second is my public tribute to Hal from the end of my essay on the > voice of Mark Twain, published in Mark Twain Journal: > > I will be forever grateful that he found time to write a preface to Mark > Twain and Youth, and grateful to you for guiding that process along. > Donna and I will never forget the two hours of private conversation we > shared with him the morning after his performance in San Antonio a few > years ago. During that visit he explained that Dixie had "saved" him, > and I am grateful that they found each other when they did. He spoke > modestly of obstacles he'd overcome, and my admiration of him grew. > Others will rightly talk about his talents and his career, but I will > most remember his candor, kindnesses, and generosities. I assumed his > passion for life and his 20 minute morning exercise routine would carry > him beyond 100. I can just hear Hal laughing and asking me "You're > surprised a 95 year old guy has died? That's not exactly headline news!" > No, it isn't, but when a good soul passes our way, illuminating the sky, > and then is gone, it certainly is. We were lucky to have him. > > From MTJ 57:2 (Fall 2019): > > Many Twainians are aware that Gillette once performed in front of Twain, > but the entire story of that performance, including Twain’s reaction to > Gillette’s impersonation, seems to have escaped notice by Twain > scholars. On the evening of June 5, 1877, Gillette returned to Hartford > after touring with John T. Raymond in the play Col. Sellers, and > performed on stage at the Seminary Hall on Pratt Street. The first part > of his three-part program included his imitations of Raymond playing > Col. Mulberry Sellers and Anna Dickinson playing Anne Boleyn, and > telling “The Jumping Frog, giving an imitation of Mark Twain.” The > second and third parts of his program included impersonations of Edwin > Booth playing Hamlet and other dramatic vignettes. The next day Gillette > got high praise for his entire performance, but his impersonation of > Twain was singled out as “so well done that Mr. Clemens, who was > present, might have fancied that he was on the stage.” Apparently, > that’s precisely what Twain fancied, for when Gillette gave an emotional > speech to a Hartford Club luncheon in 1930, he “remembered high points > in his career” and told of Mark Twain’s remark to him after that 1877 > performance, when Twain told him--no doubt in a slow drawl--that it was > “one more reason for being sorry I was born.” This was a typical Twain > compliment, and whether the “I” referred to Gillette or to Twain > himself, Gillette understood it for the compliment that it was, an > endorsement of a job well done. > > [insert #14 Hal Holbrook, before & after] > > Hal Holbrook began performing on the road with his first wife Ruby > toward the end of 1948 in Amarillo, Texas, and in 1949 he added Mark > Twain to their repertoire (Holbrook Mark 10). His first solo performance > in Mark Twain Tonight! occurred at State Teachers College in Lockhaven, > Pennsylvania on March 19, 1954 (Holbrook Mark 42), and the show > premiered off-Broadway on April 6, 1959. In 1966 he opened on Broadway > and won a Tony Award. The following year it premiered on CBS and he > received an Emmy for that TV special. By the time Holbrook retired from > My Mark Twain! in 2017, he had performed it more than 2,100 times. Sam > Clemens had been “Mark Twain” for forty-seven years, from 1863 to 1910; > Hal Holbrook was “Mark Twain” for sixty-eight years, from 1949 to 2017. > Despite the thirty-nine year interval between their careers there is > significant overlap between Clemens’s and Holbrook’s audiences: In the > 1950s, 60s, and 70s, there were people still living who had heard > Clemens’s “Mark Twain” speak, and they sometimes showed up to see > Holbrook’s “Mark Twain” perform. > Of special interest to Twainians interested in the reconstruction of > Mark Twain’s voice, is Hal Holbrook’s serious research into that voice. > According to Holbrook, the only variation from Twain’s voice that he > allows himself is that he speaks faster than Twain--because Twain’s slow > pace would drive modern audiences to distraction—but it hardly seems > noticeable. Otherwise he has been meticulous. The story begins in 1956 > when Holbrook was contacted by Yale University Professor Norman Holmes > Pearson, who wanted his opinion of a recording said to be by Twain. > Holbrook listened to the recording and immediately noticed that the > impersonator had a New England accent and seemed to speak at a faster > clip than Twain, and expressed his doubts (MTS 1996 xxxi-xxxii). Pearson > soon found out that the recording in question was the one Gillette had > made for Professor Packard at Harvard in 1936. > Some have pointed out that the Gillette impersonation is an > impersonation of Mark Twain impersonating the characters in the jumping > frog tale: Simon Wheeler at the beginning, then “one of the boys,” then > Parson Walker, and finally Jim Smiley at the very end. However, except > for the voice of Parson Walker, when Gillette’s own New England accent > becomes quite evident, the others speak in an identical slow drawl, and > the verdict of the newspaper reviewer in June 1877 confirms that > Gillette was producing an accurate rendition of Mark Twain’s voice when > telling this story. > The version that is now preserved at Yale is the one that Holbrook used > in styling his own impersonation of Twain, but he has also relied on > other sources. There was James B. Pond, Jr. (1889-1961), known as “Bim” > Pond, the son of James B. Pond (1838-1903), who had been Twain’s lecture > agent for his Twain-Cable tour (1884-1885) and his round-the-world > lecture tour (1895-1896), who was himself a talent agent. Bim had heard > Twain often when growing up, and actually demonstrated Twain’s drawl and > intonations when Holbrook visited his New York office. Bim especially > drawled out verbs and direct objects, and a long or short “a” in a word > was more likely to get drawled than other vowels (Holbrook Harold > 209-210; Holbrook Mark 27-28, 36). A similar pattern can be heard in > Gillette’s impersonation. Holbrook also met Madame Charbonnel, who had > known Twain in Vienna (Holbrook Harold 362). In Hartford, Holbrook met > Miss Katharine Day, a descendant of Twain’s famous neighbor, Harriet > Beecher Stowe. Miss Day had been a playmate of Twain’s daughters, and > “her memories gave [him] some insight into the gracious side of > [Twain’s] character” (Holbrook Mark 70). In May 1958 Holbrook visited > Twain’s ninety-four -year-old secretary, Isabel Lyon, in her Greenwich > Village apartment. She propped herself up with a pillow, poured a > Scotch, and lit a pipe Twain had given her, and told Holbrook things > about Twain that he promised he would “never publish” (Trombley 260-61). > Shortly after that visit Holbrook wrote her a note expressing his > gratitude for being able to “listen to [her] talk about [Twain] and in > trying to absorb [her] feeling about him. That is more important to me > than any fact, though I’ll be after you with queries about them in the > future.” Holbrook paid her several more visits. > > [insert #15 and #16, Holbrook’s letter to Lyon] > > In November 1959 Caroline Harnsberger, an independent Twain scholar, > wrote to her friend Clara Clemens, telling her that “as you can see, I > am in the thick of the latest Twain excitement—the success of Hal > Holbrook in his recreation of your father.” She described her visit with > Holbrook, the experience of watching him apply his make-up before a > show, and described his stage presence before telling Clara that “he > told me that he has been booked for three weeks in Los Angeles . . . and > that he was hoping so much to be able to meet you.” Clara and Holbrook > finally met on April 12, 1961, and Clara reported back to Harnsberger > two days later that “I am really writing to say that Mr. Holbrook was > here day before yesterday and took us all “by storm.” He is certainly > all you said—and more too . . . . I would so like to see you soon and > discuss Mr. Holbrook and his eyes.” During his visit Clara suggested > that Holbrook should do an impersonation of Jesus Christ (Trombley 265). > When later asked to explain Clara’s fascination with his eyes, Holbrook > just grinned. > > [insert #17 Clara writing about Holbrook] > > There is, of course, one other intriguing theory of how Holbrook has > been able to replicate Mark Twain’s voice. Holbrook was born in > Cleveland, Ohio as Harold Holbrook, and as a child was sometimes called > Harry. In May 1872 Twain and his family paid a visit to Cleveland at the > invitation of Mary Mason “Mother” Fairbanks, the slightly older woman > who had befriended Twain during his Quaker City excursion, becoming a > lifelong friend and advisor. During their stay, Twain visited the > Cleveland Club and signed their guest register. The signature > immediately above Twain’s is that of a “Harry Holbrook.” Holbrook’s > association with Mark Twain therefore seems to have begun much earlier > than he has admitted. Some may quibble about the date, but this theory > would otherwise explain a lot. > > [insert #18 1872 Cleveland Club guest register] > > The landscape of Mark Twain’s literary voice is one of unfolding vistas > and enticing terrain: Short stories, interviews, travel narratives, > political satire, novels for readers young and old, interviews, poems, > public and private letters, letters written and dictated (and letters > never mailed), journals, annotations in his books in which he seems to > have anticipated a reader looking over his shoulder, and speeches. But > the landscape traversed in the search for the recovery or reconstruction > of Mark Twain’s physical voice is scarred with lost opportunities and > regrets, littered with tantalizing clues that repeatedly lead to rabbit > holes and box canyons, and its few meadows of fertile soil nourish hopes > and imaginings that may never bloom. Yet, in the impersonation of Mark > Twain by Hal Holbrook we have a voice that resonates with Twain’s aural > DNA, for in the beginning Twain begat Gillette, and when Twain saw > Gillette’s work he saw that it was good; Gillette begat Holbrook, and it > was good. Hal Holbrook is as close as we can come to a rendering of > Twain’s voice, and it’s closer than anyone has imagined until now. > In a letter written early in his career, dated February 21, 1956, > Holbrook wrote to a potential client about his portrayal of Mark Twain, > describing at length the content and other details of his show, > concluding with a declaration that would hold firm for the next sixty > years: > I never break character as Twain. I give the entire performance as Twain > would have given it –talking, acting out selections from his books, > commenting between on what struck his humor about people and things, and > what made him angry. I am extremely enthusiastic about the man and his > ideas and am eager to transfer it to audiences. I have the greatest > faith in Mark Twain’s material. I haven’t met anyone yet who couldn’t > carry a solid lesson away from it. > In all the years since writing that letter, Holbrook has spoken publicly > and written passionately about the truth and relevance of Mark Twain’s > words, and Twain’s role as the subversive savior of American culture—if > only America will listen. When Holbrook’s devotion to the serious truths > of Twain’s message is taken into account, it is not unreasonable to > imagine Howells calling Holbrook the Lincoln of Mark Twain > impersonators. > It must be remembered that “Mark Twain” is a fictional character, a > persona that was constructed and performed by Sam Clemens, just as > Shakespeare created his characters and very likely played some of them > on stage. But Shakespeare did not leave behind a body of literature > written by one of his characters, making that character’s voice > essential for an understanding of his plays. Holbrook has played the > role of Mark Twain as did Clemens, just as Sir Laurence Olivier played > the role of Hamlet, but nothing is riding on anyone’s portrayal of > Hamlet beyond the character of Hamlet himself. Any Twain impersonator > carries the entire body of Twain’s works upon his shoulders. Holbrook > has borne this immense burden gracefully and with passion. If by some > stroke of good fortune an authentic voice recording of Mark Twain ever > surfaces, it will no doubt sound like some damn fool trying to > impersonate Hal Holbrook. Even if that day never comes, the voice of > Mark Twain shall never be silent. > > Kevin > @ > Mac Donnell Rare Books > 9307 Glenlake Drive > Austin TX 78730 > 512-345-4139 > Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA > > You can browse our books at: > www.macdonnellrarebooks.com > > > ------ Original Message ------ > From: "John R. Pascal" <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: 2/2/2021 7:39:52 AM > Subject: Hal Holbrook Is Now Truly with Mark Twain Forever > > > > 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 >