For those of you not able to be there yesterday, we can report that Winedale alum Michael Barker, looking quite distinguished and almost giddy (or dizzy?) at times in his mortarboard and academic robes, knocked one out of the Erwin Center with a great commencement address to all the College of Communication graduates and assembled family and guests. Doc looked equally grand as he sat onstage with the deans and faculty and provided that extra gravitas that only a veteran of many such ceremonies can bring (though inside sources confirm that even while onstage Doc was scheming on how to slip Michael's speech out from the yellow file folder the honoree was clutching somewhat anxiously -- never could quite distract Michael enough to pull it off).
There were plenty of wonderful Michael moments as he touched on the notion of the "transformative moment" and told of the encounters that helped shape his path, from landing at Winedale to meeting his wife Betsy (he recounted the day, the time, the place!) to being a student of the great Stella Adler to a dreamlike walk down the Yellow Brick Road (metaphorically and almost literally, as "Oz" had been filmed there) on his first trip with partner Tom Bernard to the soundstages of the major studios in L.A. to make the leap to forming Sony Pictures Classics.
His message to the kids: Nurture your desire, don't give up, be generous, learn to accept failure (he recounted an SPC flop that did this for him, finally) and -- be brave. Among my favorite lines: first, what I'm going to call Barker's Law (with apologies to that other brilliant Michael we know), his summation of what he learned at Winedale, that language could be "poetic and 100% true to life... at the same time," and second, at the closing, a quote from his successful and mostly self-taught father, who would worry aloud behind Michael's back long ago: "I wonder if seeing all these movies will ever amount to anything for the boy." "Here I am," Michael said simply, gesturing to the all surrounding him in the packed Drum. Yep!
Inspiring stuff from an inspiring guy.
Well done Michael! Speaking for the Winedale cheering section there yesterday, and I'm sure for all on this list too, we are proud of you and honored to count you as a friend and a fellow player.
cs
Well stated, Clayton.
Allow me the audacity to add "Stokes' corollary" to "Barker's law": Language that is 100% true to life cannot be anything other than poetic.
(Now that I think about it, didn't Aristotle already write something to that effect? Never mind; it's the idea that matters.)
Wish I could have been there to hear the whole speech. I, for one, could use that kind of encouragement.
My congratulations to Michael, and my thanks to you for sharing this with us.
John
Quoting Clay Stromberger CSTROMBERGER@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU:
For those of you not able to be there yesterday, we can report that Winedale alum Michael Barker, looking quite distinguished and almost giddy (or dizzy?) at times in his mortarboard and academic robes, knocked one out of the Erwin Center with a great commencement address to all the College of Communication graduates and assembled family and guests. Doc looked equally grand as he sat onstage with the deans and faculty and provided that extra gravitas that only a veteran of many such ceremonies can bring (though inside sources confirm that even while onstage Doc was scheming on how to slip Michael's speech out from the yellow file folder the honoree was clutching somewhat anxiously -- never could quite distract Michael enough to pull it off).
There were plenty of wonderful Michael moments as he touched on the notion of the "transformative moment" and told of the encounters that helped shape his path, from landing at Winedale to meeting his wife Betsy (he recounted the day, the time, the place!) to being a student of the great Stella Adler to a dreamlike walk down the Yellow Brick Road (metaphorically and almost literally, as "Oz" had been filmed there) on his first trip with partner Tom Bernard to the soundstages of the major studios in L.A. to make the leap to forming Sony Pictures Classics.
His message to the kids: Nurture your desire, don't give up, be generous, learn to accept failure (he recounted an SPC flop that did this for him, finally) and -- be brave. Among my favorite lines: first, what I'm going to call Barker's Law (with apologies to that other brilliant Michael we know), his summation of what he learned at Winedale, that language could be "poetic and 100% true to life... at the same time," and second, at the closing, a quote from his successful and mostly self-taught father, who would worry aloud behind Michael's back long ago: "I wonder if seeing all these movies will ever amount to anything for the boy." "Here I am," Michael said simply, gesturing to the all surrounding him in the packed Drum. Yep!
Inspiring stuff from an inspiring guy.
Well done Michael! Speaking for the Winedale cheering section there yesterday, and I'm sure for all on this list too, we are proud of you and honored to count you as a friend and a fellow player.
cs
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Thank you, Clayton. It was overwhelming. I would have passed out if Doc had not been sitting next to me. The word "transformative" was given to me by Doc decades ago and guides me to this day. Thank you, Doc and thank you friends from Winedale for all. Speak soon. michael
----- Original Message ----- From: Clay Stromberger [mailto:CSTROMBERGER@MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU] Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 11:59 AM To: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Winedale-l] Barker hits a homer
For those of you not able to be there yesterday, we can report that Winedale alum Michael Barker, looking quite distinguished and almost giddy (or dizzy?) at times in his mortarboard and academic robes, knocked one out of the Erwin Center with a great commencement address to all the College of Communication graduates and assembled family and guests. Doc looked equally grand as he sat onstage with the deans and faculty and provided that extra gravitas that only a veteran of many such ceremonies can bring (though inside sources confirm that even while onstage Doc was scheming on how to slip Michael's speech out from the yellow file folder the honoree was clutching somewhat anxiously -- never could quite distract Michael enough to pull it off).
There were plenty of wonderful Michael moments as he touched on the notion of the "transformative moment" and told of the encounters that helped shape his path, from landing at Winedale to meeting his wife Betsy (he recounted the day, the time, the place!) to being a student of the great Stella Adler to a dreamlike walk down the Yellow Brick Road (metaphorically and almost literally, as "Oz" had been filmed there) on his first trip with partner Tom Bernard to the soundstages of the major studios in L.A. to make the leap to forming Sony Pictures Classics.
His message to the kids: Nurture your desire, don't give up, be generous, learn to accept failure (he recounted an SPC flop that did this for him, finally) and -- be brave. Among my favorite lines: first, what I'm going to call Barker's Law (with apologies to that other brilliant Michael we know), his summation of what he learned at Winedale, that language could be "poetic and 100% true to life... at the same time," and second, at the closing, a quote from his successful and mostly self-taught father, who would worry aloud behind Michael's back long ago: "I wonder if seeing all these movies will ever amount to anything for the boy." "Here I am," Michael said simply, gesturing to the all surrounding him in the packed Drum. Yep!
Inspiring stuff from an inspiring guy.
Well done Michael! Speaking for the Winedale cheering section there yesterday, and I'm sure for all on this list too, we are proud of you and honored to count you as a friend and a fellow player.
cs
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