Affirmed

This comes for Tripp's most recent post. He talked about how his craft of a singer was affirmed by Bobby McFerrin. Here is my story.

I was working stage crew at college and Mr. Hal Holbrook brought his Mark Twain one man show through.

It had been a long day and was leaning against a table taking a break when someone started giving me a shoulder rub. It was Mr. Holbrook. He said Thanks, you all are great. Needless to say, I was Freaked out a little...I am getting a sholder rub from Hal Freakin' Holbrook. We chatted a little bit. I told him about me, and when I said I was from Springfield, he started asking about people who were extras in a movied he shot there years ago. He rememberd their names.

As for the afirmation it was 2-fold. One was that he encouraged me to keep plugin away at my craft, and don't be afraid to do my own thing. But the most important was that of a very humble man who did not forget those who helped him get to where he was.

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One other one was Gary Sinise. I met him after the first preview of The Steppenwolf's production of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest several years ago. He was also a very nice guy. He stood by the stage door chatting with 2 friends and I for a good 25-30 minutes. He encouraged us all to keep our hearts in the game and 2 of us started our own theater companies. But the other thing was that of a very humble man who did not forget those who helped him get to where he was.

Seems to be a theme. A theme I will never forget