This is wonderful, Rob, thank you. 

I’ll have more to say when my emotions settle down again, but wanted to share this photo. I’m holding my daughter, Viola. ❤️





Sent from Gmail Mobile


On Sun, Nov 5, 2023 at 8:14 AM Mary Collins <collinsmary166@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you, Rob. Thank you, James, and Laurel. 

❤️Mary

On Fri, Nov 3, 2023 at 1:53 PM Robert Matney <rmatney@gmail.com> wrote:
Professor James Loehlin was the most complete human I’ve ever known: zealous in the pursuit of beauty, assiduous in the accrual of knowledge, and endlessly generous in support of friends, family, and students. With decency, honesty, and unfailing kindness, he inspired me and so many others to remember to value what’s most important in life.

We all contain multitudes, but James Loehlin contained more than most. And though it is a little on the nose to call him a renaissance man, it is also fitting. 

Renown expert in early modern drama with a word perfect memory of nearly the entirety of Shakespeare’s works? Yes. A significant Chekhovian? That too. Stoppard scholar esteemed by those who best know Stoppard? 

He was both Stoic, as evidenced by his inexhaustible endurance at Winedale both in health and illness and his durable patience with care-taking for ailing parents, with apt and stubborn students, and with the challenges inherent in taking over leadership of a long-running program. But he was also epicurean, as evidenced by his delight in great food and drink, and his ready, earthy laugh. And lest I forget, he was also fully embodied, enjoying vigorous sport and the outdoors .

A formidable scholar, prolific author, and accessible teacher, he was a tower of grace and graciousness - better at most everything than most of us - and he made that tower accessible. He didn’t seek acolytes (though he certainly has them), rather he shined a light down a beautiful path which he trod with you. 

He was contemplative and thoughtful, but also possessed of a celerity of wit and all readiness to spring with angility into play.

And despite the way it is easy to frame his strengths in oppositions (after all, he did teach many to understand and communicate the rhetorical power of antitheses), his life was not a study in contrasts but rather in range. Between these named potencies were many others that together formed a rare fabric of capability and virtue.
 
And finally, at the end of his servings and delights, he taught the greatest lesson a human may teach: 

He raged against the dying of the light, powering through brutalizing treatment with a barely a missed beat doing what he loved most with the people he most loved at Winedale with Laurel, his staff and colleagues and his students – and then, when the time came, dying with grace and quiet dignity in the arms of his beloved, whom he had loved and honored for decades.

He was the most complete human I’ve ever known. I will never not remember him, and I will not see his like again. 

Thank you, my friend, my mentor, James. I’m proud to be one of many who love and respect you.

Robert Matney
Student of 98, 99



On Tue, Sep 26, 2023 at 6:00 PM idalia clark <bookwoman1627@gmail.com> wrote:
I am late replying to this awful news because I have been away for the last month on a long road trip.  My heart hurts to hear of James leaving us, and my tears will join the river that has been cried for him.  May God grant him rest and peace, and a respite from all the pain he has suffered.  I wish solace and comfort to his family as well.  What a terrible senseless loss this is, and how I wish it were not true.  Love to all from Dali.  


On Sep 24, 2023, at 12:55 AM, David Sharpe <dpsharpeaustin@gmail.com> wrote:

James Loehlin knew plays backwards and forwards. He especially knew that when things get heavy, a touch of humor can often help a play. So in that spirit, I dare strike a comedic note on this page devoted to the memory of James Loehlin. 

Even though other people knew James better than me, I knew him well enough to know that I think he would like and not be offended in the least if I posted a link to the song, "Always Look On The Bright Side of Life" by Eric Idle. 

Interestingly, Wikipedia says that this song is a popular sing-along at soccer (football) games and funerals in Great Britain. 

The first link posts the song as it was sung in a wild and funny rendition at a British Royal Concert. One stanza is totally new. (Duration: 7:25 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2jb9U7fXH0

The next link takes you simply to a recording of the song along with the original lyrics. (Duration: 3:39 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_-q9xeOgG4

David Sharpe

On Fri, Sep 22, 2023 at 12:41 PM Mark Lovell <markalovell@gmail.com> wrote:
Ah, I haven't commented on this thread in a very long while. This may in fact be my first posting. I was shocked to hear about James' passing - I heard through the grapevine that he was sick, but I didn't know it was serious. I remember him quite fondly -- he played the ghost of Hamlet's father in the 1998 First Quarto version of Hamlet that we all did at the Globe Theater in London. I remember once while there:  we were having English breakfast all together at our dorm (beans and sausage and whatnot), and he aptly described the line for getting food as 'labyrinthine' - a word I had only ever read and never pronounced. He knew how to pronounce it: lab-er-INTH-iyne. And I remember his warmth and gentle, sold authority as he took the helm at Shakespeare at Winedale. I just assumed he'd captain the barn until Time itself ran out. A tragic loss that happened too soon.

Much love to all, 

Mark 

On Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 3:22 PM Tarissa Day <tarissaday@gmail.com> wrote:
Doc and Heather, thank you both for distilling what I've been feeling into such beautiful words and poetry. Heather, your image of the rippling pool captures so closely what I've had in mind and heart, even as snippets of Whitman crossing the East River keep up a refrain. Our shared experiences bind us, as does our humanity. James left a wide and indelible mark upon this world, it reaches behind us and in front of us. I am grateful for the remembrances from Clayton and John and so many others. And there will be more anon.

Sending love to all and especially to Laurel,
Tarissa

PS And thank you to Mike and Casey and Laurel for reminding me about that Hare issue; it is such a beautiful and collective tribute to James. 

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 7:36 PM Anne Engelking Smith <ankleking@gmail.com> wrote:
Adding my voice to echo here. 
I’ve also not had the words that I felt were quite right. With Heather and Doc’s invitation, I now add my words and loving thoughts in memory of James. I always found him gentle, heartfelt, yet powerful and empowered. It is a tribute indeed to read all the thoughts here. 

We few, we happy few. 
Indeed. 

With love,

Anne

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 20, 2023, at 12:15 AM, 'Alice Gordon' via Shakespeare at Winedale Email List <shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Thank you both, Heather and Doc, for this call and response. It’s a gift.
Love,
Alice

On Sep 19, 2023, at 3:14 PM, James Ayres <jayres@cvctx.com> wrote:

Thank you, Heather.  Your letter prompted this:

by John Donne

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.

On Sep 19, 2023, at 1:07 PM, Heather Dolstra <heather@democracytravel.com> wrote:

Dearest Doc,
 
I have struggled for the past 4 days with such sadness over this news and didn’t know what to do with that feeling, considering that I never met James.   It didn’t even seem right to join in with my own message of condolence.  However, it occurred to me that in the theatre, as in all art, we may not “know” the actor, performer, or artist but that doesn’t mean that we are not profoundly moved by their existence.  In reading all the lovely messages from Ancianos (and those of more recent vintage) I realize that the Winedale family is like a big pool and everything that happens to one of us creates a ripple that is felt by all.   A palpable loss to those of you who had known James for years is also a loss felt by those of us who passed through prior to his arrival on the Winedale stage.
 
With much love to all,
 
Heather Dolstra
 
 
 
From: James Ayres <jayres@cvctx.com> 
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 7:05 PM
To: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums <winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org>; Shakespeare Winedale <shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [Winedale-l] James Loehlin
 
After a lengthy and bold struggle with pancreatic cancer, James has passed away.  We have lost a brilliant colleague, scholar, actor, director, student, and kind friend.  He loved Shakespeare, teaching, and all of his students. And he loved the barn at Winedale.  This is a very sad time.  Please keep Laurel in your thoughts and prayers.
 
Peace and love to every one of you.
 
Love,
 
Doc
 
 
 
 
 
 
Jim (Doc) Ayres
Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas
Founding Director, Shakespeare at Winedale and Camp Shakespeare
Director of Mission, Camp Shakespeare

Jim (Doc) Ayres
Professor Emeritus, The University of Texas
Founding Director, Shakespeare at Winedale and Camp Shakespeare
Director of Mission, Camp Shakespeare






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