Dearest Doc and Madge, thank both of you for putting into words what I am feeling.

What a lovely man he was.

Mary

On Fri, Sep 15, 2023 at 8:17 PM Madge Darlington mmdarlington@gmail.com wrote:

Thank you, Doc, for your message. This is heartbreaking news. James was a beautiful human being, full of gentleness, wit, smarts and guts. I have been thinking of Laurel...what an amazing partner and support she has been to him. And I have been thinking of the many many students whose lives he touched. James is beloved. It is a terrible loss. I will miss him so.

Much love to all, Madge

On Fri, Sep 15, 2023 at 6:05 PM James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com wrote:

...

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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-- *Madge Darlington* mmdarlington@gmail.com (512) 627-6038

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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His memory is a blessing for all of us.

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of Mary Collins collinsmary166@gmail.com Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 8:34 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin And David.

On Fri, Sep 15, 2023 at 8:33 PM Mary Collins <collinsmary166@gmail.commailto:collinsmary166@gmail.com> wrote: Dearest Doc and Madge, thank both of you for putting into words what I am feeling.

What a lovely man he was.

Mary

On Fri, Sep 15, 2023 at 8:17 PM Madge Darlington <mmdarlington@gmail.commailto:mmdarlington@gmail.com> wrote: Thank you, Doc, for your message. This is heartbreaking news. James was a beautiful human being, full of gentleness, wit, smarts and guts. I have been thinking of Laurel...what an amazing partner and support she has been to him. And I have been thinking of the many many students whose lives he touched. James is beloved. It is a terrible loss. I will miss him so.

Much love to all, Madge

On Fri, Sep 15, 2023 at 6:05 PM James Ayres <jayres@cvctx.commailto:jayres@cvctx.com> wrote: 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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you! --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.commailto:shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/34B03F4...https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/34B03F49-160C-4559-8EB4-BDDD979CD991%40cvctx.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer.

-- Madge Darlington mmdarlington@gmail.commailto:mmdarlington@gmail.com (512) 627-6038 -- Be vigitant, I beseech you! --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.commailto:shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/CAJvTs1...https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/CAJvTs1tEQ4pESJtLZ%2BpH%3DH_sJRv95dzzWk-_%3DmZniBYMXZJP7Q%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer. -- Be vigitant, I beseech you! --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.commailto:shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/CA%2B8O...https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/CA%2B8OBZVOgBLyF9FzyBMUFNnmSxJae2vUhwcJV%2B-nARwQHSb-7A%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer.

This. And that photo. Gosh. Thank you, Clayton, for a gorgeous summary of what has become an extraordinary string of tributes to a most remarkable man and friend. And thank you, Doc, for the words that set it off. I’m reading all of them with tears in my eyes. Jayne

From: "shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu Reply-To: "shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 9:14 AM To: "shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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Much love to you all, and thanks for the beautiful words. Laurel

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night,

And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Get Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef ________________________________ From: Loehlin, James N jnloehlin@austin.utexas.edu Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:53:50 AM To: Jayne Mack Suhler jmacksuhler@gmail.com; shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com; Laurel Loehlin LLoehlin@bmiusa.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Get Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef ________________________________ From: Jayne Mack Suhler jmacksuhler@gmail.com Sent: Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:48:39 AM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Winedale-l] Re: James Loehlin

This. And that photo. Gosh. Thank you, Clayton, for a gorgeous summary of what has become an extraordinary string of tributes to a most remarkable man and friend. And thank you, Doc, for the words that set it off. I’m reading all of them with tears in my eyes. Jayne

From: "shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu Reply-To: "shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 9:14 AM To: "shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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I caught Laurel's bounced messages earlier today (and also one from Leigh Hopper), and added them to the lists they were bounced from. (Sometimes this happens when people have switched among different email addresses, but in any case I was online when the bounce messages appeared, noticed them, and fixed the issue immediately.)

Please let me know if any of you have any other messages that bounce or otherwise don't seem to have gone through.

Love,

Mike

On Sat, Sep 16, 2023 at 5:25 PM Laurel Loehlin LLoehlin@bmiusa.com wrote:

I seem to not have permission to post to this group, so please forward my response along.

Get Outlook for iOS https://aka.ms/o0ukef

*From:* Laurel Loehlin LLoehlin@bmiusa.com *Sent:* Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:57:43 AM *To:* Loehlin, James N jnloehlin@austin.utexas.edu; Jayne Mack Suhler < jmacksuhler@gmail.com>; shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> *Cc:* Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums < winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Subject:* Re: James Loehlin

Much love to you all, and thanks for the beautiful words. Laurel

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night,

And pay no worship to the garish sun.

Get Outlook for iOS https://aka.ms/o0ukef

*From:* Loehlin, James N jnloehlin@austin.utexas.edu *Sent:* Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:53:50 AM *To:* Jayne Mack Suhler jmacksuhler@gmail.com; shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com>; Laurel Loehlin < LLoehlin@bmiusa.com> *Cc:* Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums < winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Subject:* Re: James Loehlin

Get Outlook for iOS https://aka.ms/o0ukef

*From:* Jayne Mack Suhler jmacksuhler@gmail.com *Sent:* Saturday, September 16, 2023 10:48:39 AM *To:* shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> *Cc:* Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums < winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Subject:* [Winedale-l] Re: James Loehlin

This. And that photo. Gosh. Thank you, Clayton, for a gorgeous summary of what has become an extraordinary string of tributes to a most remarkable man and friend. And thank you, Doc, for the words that set it off. I’m reading all of them with tears in my eyes. Jayne

*From: *"shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu *Reply-To: *"shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> *Date: *Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 9:14 AM *To: *"shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com" < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> *Cc: *Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums < winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Subject: *Re: James Loehlin

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[image: A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

*From: *shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org *Date: *Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM *To: *shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> *Cc: *Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums < winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Subject: *Re: James Loehlin

Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

...

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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I'm grateful to everyone who has leapt in here to honor James and to share the grief we feel at losing him. You speak for me too. In the light of what he gave us, and in honor of the depth of knowledge, talent, and humanity behind what he gave us, here's a picture.

Love,

Mike

Hello again.

I'm reminded, Clayton, (often as it turns out, for multiple reasons) of the time you, David Sharpe, James, and I drove out to the property in front of the Barn to view Halley's comet in 1986 (sadly, a weak apparition, but we did see it). I believe there was a gibbous moon setting that night/morning, although it would have had to have been like 3 a.m. But I remember the ghostly, skull like moon setting and James' resonant pronunciation of the word 'gibbous'. Maybe I'm conflating astronomical events. Wonderful experience.

I also had a chance to confront James' competitive spirit, but not in football (my lack of hand-eye coordination made me a poor player). There was a poker game back in the early '90s at Kathy Blackbird's place and James (in general, never one to brag) had nevertheless boasted earlier in the evening that he always (I think he said 'always') won on this side of the Atlantic and always lost on the the other. Even his boasts had modest qualifications. I was losing, as usual, but at the point where I was on the ropes, I was dealt a full house, kings high. Naturally, if I was going to lose with that hand I was going to go down in flames. No folding this time. And, sure enough everyone else at the table capitulated...except Sir James. We just kept raising each other, making the pot very lucrative. Eventually he called me. Turns out, he had a full house. Queens high. I came out ahead at the end of the evening, with James a close second. He played for keeps, despite that magnanimous disposition of his.

Last story/tribute. A little over ten years ago there was a reader's theater presentation of "Much Ado About Nothing" here in Socorro. I was assigned the role of Don Pedro. James' performance of that role from '84 (as do all of his performances and readings) still haunted me, so rather than try to bring my poor insights (if I had 'em) to the role, I just channeled his voice, inflections, and sense of character into it. Needless to say, it went well, thanks to the absent yet ever present James Loehlin.

I could go on, but there will be further opportunity for that. To quote the Fool from "A Winter's Tale", 'We'll have mo' ballads anon.' The Ballad of James Loehlin: never ending, like one of the corridas sung on the border.

Thank you all for sharing such precious memories.

John

Quoting Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu:

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

...

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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No one loved playing games of any kind more than James. Teaching students to play poker in the summers at Winedale was a big tradition for us. A Life Skill, as J would put it. No money ?? was exchanged, of course, just poker chips and knowledge. He almost always won. (I think I won once, in 2022 maybe??) He had more patience than the rest of us.

Get Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef ________________________________ From: Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2023 12:55:25 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Winedale-l] Re: James Loehlin

John –

I love your poker story. James was a great poker player – I wish I’d played more with him in recent years – and I remember an epic game at Claire’s place in Lake Tahoe with David Ziegler, when James had just left Stanford and I was joining him to make the drive to LA to see Mark Bouler and Shari Gray and others living there then… I was battling a cold and James and Zig insisted that “the tequila cure” would knock it out. This involved shots of tequila after every few hands. Claire, ever the healer, got me in a hot bath with a cup of ginger tea first, and then I sat and played with a wool cap on my head, sweating and knocking back tequila. I woke up early the next morning to a summer sunrise and a gorgeous blue sky and felt like a million bucks. It worked! We all sprang out of our couches and beds and went dashing outside, glad and young, for a hike up a nearby hill. So many moments like that with James. He was the best travel companion you could ask for.

And yes I recall the Halley’s jaunt – and especially that as we gathered at my place in Austin to depart, I tried to get others engaged in coming up with a special “Halley’s handshake” to commemorate the occasion. It involved a kind of “swoosh” with your hands as you shook and then pulled your hands away from each other like the comet’s tail. James was the only person in the group who lit up at this idea, so we did it a few times together with grins on our faces, and then we all hopped in our cars and headed east toward the Barn.

And hell yes to mo ballads of James and to corridas without end.

Love,

cs

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 5:09 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Hello again.

I'm reminded, Clayton, (often as it turns out, for multiple reasons) of the time you, David Sharpe, James, and I drove out to the property in front of the Barn to view Halley's comet in 1986 (sadly, a weak apparition, but we did see it). I believe there was a gibbous moon setting that night/morning, although it would have had to have been like 3 a.m. But I remember the ghostly, skull like moon setting and James' resonant pronunciation of the word 'gibbous'. Maybe I'm conflating astronomical events. Wonderful experience.

I also had a chance to confront James' competitive spirit, but not in football (my lack of hand-eye coordination made me a poor player). There was a poker game back in the early '90s at Kathy Blackbird's place and James (in general, never one to brag) had nevertheless boasted earlier in the evening that he always (I think he said 'always') won on this side of the Atlantic and always lost on the the other. Even his boasts had modest qualifications. I was losing, as usual, but at the point where I was on the ropes, I was dealt a full house, kings high. Naturally, if I was going to lose with that hand I was going to go down in flames. No folding this time. And, sure enough everyone else at the table capitulated...except Sir James. We just kept raising each other, making the pot very lucrative. Eventually he called me. Turns out, he had a full house. Queens high. I came out ahead at the end of the evening, with James a close second. He played for keeps, despite that magnanimous disposition of his.

Last story/tribute. A little over ten years ago there was a reader's theater presentation of "Much Ado About Nothing" here in Socorro. I was assigned the role of Don Pedro. James' performance of that role from '84 (as do all of his performances and readings) still haunted me, so rather than try to bring my poor insights (if I had 'em) to the role, I just channeled his voice, inflections, and sense of character into it. Needless to say, it went well, thanks to the absent yet ever present James Loehlin.

I could go on, but there will be further opportunity for that. To quote the Fool from "A Winter's Tale", 'We'll have mo' ballads anon.' The Ballad of James Loehlin: never ending, like one of the corridas sung on the border.

Thank you all for sharing such precious memories.

John

Quoting Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu:

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

...

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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The very BEST trivia team member. Ruthless in the annual July 4th Volleyball Grudge Match, between the current class and all present returners…

Get Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef ________________________________ From: Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2023 1:11:44 PM To: Laurel Loehlin LLoehlin@bmiusa.com; shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Yes! A mysterious ability to lock in and concentrate while the rest of us were easily distracted. He sure didn’t mind winning, but it was the fun of being with friends and family that he cherished the most, whether it was The Name Game or touch football…

From: Laurel Loehlin LLoehlin@bmiusa.com Date: Sunday, September 17, 2023 at 1:07 PM To: Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu, shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

No one loved playing games of any kind more than James. Teaching students to play poker in the summers at Winedale was a big tradition for us. A Life Skill, as J would put it. No money ?? was exchanged, of course, just poker chips and knowledge. He almost always won. (I think I won once, in 2022 maybe??) He had more patience than the rest of us.

Get Outlook for iOShttps://aka.ms/o0ukef

________________________________

From: Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2023 12:55:25 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: [Winedale-l] Re: James Loehlin

John –

I love your poker story. James was a great poker player – I wish I’d played more with him in recent years – and I remember an epic game at Claire’s place in Lake Tahoe with David Ziegler, when James had just left Stanford and I was joining him to make the drive to LA to see Mark Bouler and Shari Gray and others living there then… I was battling a cold and James and Zig insisted that “the tequila cure” would knock it out. This involved shots of tequila after every few hands. Claire, ever the healer, got me in a hot bath with a cup of ginger tea first, and then I sat and played with a wool cap on my head, sweating and knocking back tequila. I woke up early the next morning to a summer sunrise and a gorgeous blue sky and felt like a million bucks. It worked! We all sprang out of our couches and beds and went dashing outside, glad and young, for a hike up a nearby hill. So many moments like that with James. He was the best travel companion you could ask for.

And yes I recall the Halley’s jaunt – and especially that as we gathered at my place in Austin to depart, I tried to get others engaged in coming up with a special “Halley’s handshake” to commemorate the occasion. It involved a kind of “swoosh” with your hands as you shook and then pulled your hands away from each other like the comet’s tail. James was the only person in the group who lit up at this idea, so we did it a few times together with grins on our faces, and then we all hopped in our cars and headed east toward the Barn.

And hell yes to mo ballads of James and to corridas without end.

Love,

cs

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 5:09 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin

Hello again.

I'm reminded, Clayton, (often as it turns out, for multiple reasons) of the time you, David Sharpe, James, and I drove out to the property in front of the Barn to view Halley's comet in 1986 (sadly, a weak apparition, but we did see it). I believe there was a gibbous moon setting that night/morning, although it would have had to have been like 3 a.m. But I remember the ghostly, skull like moon setting and James' resonant pronunciation of the word 'gibbous'. Maybe I'm conflating astronomical events. Wonderful experience.

I also had a chance to confront James' competitive spirit, but not in football (my lack of hand-eye coordination made me a poor player). There was a poker game back in the early '90s at Kathy Blackbird's place and James (in general, never one to brag) had nevertheless boasted earlier in the evening that he always (I think he said 'always') won on this side of the Atlantic and always lost on the the other. Even his boasts had modest qualifications. I was losing, as usual, but at the point where I was on the ropes, I was dealt a full house, kings high. Naturally, if I was going to lose with that hand I was going to go down in flames. No folding this time. And, sure enough everyone else at the table capitulated...except Sir James. We just kept raising each other, making the pot very lucrative. Eventually he called me. Turns out, he had a full house. Queens high. I came out ahead at the end of the evening, with James a close second. He played for keeps, despite that magnanimous disposition of his.

Last story/tribute. A little over ten years ago there was a reader's theater presentation of "Much Ado About Nothing" here in Socorro. I was assigned the role of Don Pedro. James' performance of that role from '84 (as do all of his performances and readings) still haunted me, so rather than try to bring my poor insights (if I had 'em) to the role, I just channeled his voice, inflections, and sense of character into it. Needless to say, it went well, thanks to the absent yet ever present James Loehlin.

I could go on, but there will be further opportunity for that. To quote the Fool from "A Winter's Tale", 'We'll have mo' ballads anon.' The Ballad of James Loehlin: never ending, like one of the corridas sung on the border.

Thank you all for sharing such precious memories.

John

Quoting Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu:

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

...

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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I haven't had the same good luck with tequila that you did, but then I also didn't have Claire as a ministering angel to make sure I was taking my medicine correctly. B)

My memory of the Halley's jaunt was that we were in one car (mine), but here we get into "Rashomon" territory.

Best wishes.

John Quoting Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu:

John –

I love your poker story. James was a great poker player – I wish I’d played more with him in recent years – and I remember an epic game at Claire’s place in Lake Tahoe with David Ziegler, when James had just left Stanford and I was joining him to make the drive to LA to see Mark Bouler and Shari Gray and others living there then… I was battling a cold and James and Zig insisted that “the tequila cure” would knock it out. This involved shots of tequila after every few hands. Claire, ever the healer, got me in a hot bath with a cup of ginger tea first, and then I sat and played with a wool cap on my head, sweating and knocking back tequila. I woke up early the next morning to a summer sunrise and a gorgeous blue sky and felt like a million bucks. It worked! We all sprang out of our couches and beds and went dashing outside, glad and young, for a hike up a nearby hill. So many moments like that with James. He was the best travel companion you could ask for.

And yes I recall the Halley’s jaunt – and especially that as we gathered at my place in Austin to depart, I tried to get others engaged in coming up with a special “Halley’s handshake” to commemorate the occasion. It involved a kind of “swoosh” with your hands as you shook and then pulled your hands away from each other like the comet’s tail. James was the only person in the group who lit up at this idea, so we did it a few times together with grins on our faces, and then we all hopped in our cars and headed east toward the Barn.

And hell yes to mo ballads of James and to corridas without end.

Love,

cs

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 5:09 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin Hello again.

I'm reminded, Clayton, (often as it turns out, for multiple reasons) of the time you, David Sharpe, James, and I drove out to the property in front of the Barn to view Halley's comet in 1986 (sadly, a weak apparition, but we did see it). I believe there was a gibbous moon setting that night/morning, although it would have had to have been like 3 a.m. But I remember the ghostly, skull like moon setting and James' resonant pronunciation of the word 'gibbous'. Maybe I'm conflating astronomical events. Wonderful experience.

I also had a chance to confront James' competitive spirit, but not in football (my lack of hand-eye coordination made me a poor player). There was a poker game back in the early '90s at Kathy Blackbird's place and James (in general, never one to brag) had nevertheless boasted earlier in the evening that he always (I think he said 'always') won on this side of the Atlantic and always lost on the the other. Even his boasts had modest qualifications. I was losing, as usual, but at the point where I was on the ropes, I was dealt a full house, kings high. Naturally, if I was going to lose with that hand I was going to go down in flames. No folding this time. And, sure enough everyone else at the table capitulated...except Sir James. We just kept raising each other, making the pot very lucrative. Eventually he called me. Turns out, he had a full house. Queens high. I came out ahead at the end of the evening, with James a close second. He played for keeps, despite that magnanimous disposition of his.

Last story/tribute. A little over ten years ago there was a reader's theater presentation of "Much Ado About Nothing" here in Socorro. I was assigned the role of Don Pedro. James' performance of that role from '84 (as do all of his performances and readings) still haunted me, so rather than try to bring my poor insights (if I had 'em) to the role, I just channeled his voice, inflections, and sense of character into it. Needless to say, it went well, thanks to the absent yet ever present James Loehlin.

I could go on, but there will be further opportunity for that. To quote the Fool from "A Winter's Tale", 'We'll have mo' ballads anon.' The Ballad of James Loehlin: never ending, like one of the corridas sung on the border.

Thank you all for sharing such precious memories.

John

Quoting Clayton Stromberger cstromberger@austin.utexas.edu:

...

Good morning everyone –

I’ve been reading and re-reading these messages since they came in yesterday. They’re all wonderful and so true.

Thank you, Doc, for your note yesterday morning. It was just perfect. I haven’t been able to find the words and I’m so grateful that you did.

He loved all those things, and loved you and JoAnn too, very much. The times you guys were able to be together meant the world to him.

I had such a strong feeling of a wave of both tears and love spreading out like a shock wave as the news spread yesterday. The wave of text messages, calls, emails, people checking on each other, holding each other, crying together, laughing together after crying – it was an overwhelming day. An awful and remarkable day. I think in the past 36 hours I’ve had several dozen of the most intense hugs of my life. And our love for James – and Laurel – was at the heart of it all.

I keep thinking of Laertes and his speech of fire that “fain would blaze/ but that this folly douts it.” I can’t seem to get very far without melting in tears.

John: Yes, we will never stop missing him. The world became a touch less fun, a touch less noble.

Carl, you’re right, the love and light was shining from our friend every time you walked into his room in this final stretch of his journey home, whether it was at Seton or Christopher House, no matter how many tubes he had running in and out of him. When those blue eyes opened, he saw you, and smiled, and always asked, “How are you doing?” or “What have you been up to?” He chose to be fully present for as many moments as he could carve out in the past year and two months or so. On Wednesday, Polly and I sat with him and Laurel and their dear friend Kevin and “Jeopardy” was on. James was excited that the Final Jeopardy question topic was “Artists,” so he unmuted it. We all gave it our best shot. (Answer: “Who was Bartholdi?”)

Chris: Yes, James was our elder at Winedale, and saved us many a time from wandering in utter confusion. He was my elder from the first moment we began working on 1.1 of “Merchant of Venice” forty years ago this past June, even though I was a world-weary senior and he was a skinny bright-eyed freshman. When he began speaking as Bassanio, we all went, “Whoa… Where did that voice come from?” Suddenly, Shakespearean verse was leaping off the page in all its richness and grace in a resonant baritone of complete authority. He already knew then more than I know now or will ever know about Shakespeare. He had the most gentle and subtle but authoritative way of correcting you if you mispronounced a word, or mis-scanned it. So many times I’ve called him over the years: “Hey in this play, this line, how do you say that word and what does it mean?” He always knew.

Michael: Yes he was brilliant, and did understand people, in a very quiet way. He was deeply shy, so deeply shy that it was often misread for aloofness when we were young. But he was always listening, thinking, and had a true gift for appreciating others in a profound way. The delight he took in his friends and students and in all of Laurel’s friends and family and his sister Jenny and his dad John and mother Marge and all the people they knew and loved – it was inexhaustible.

Lynn – yes, I’ve heard those two words, kind and gentle, so many times in the past day and a half. It was just in his marrow. Last night, I spent some time with a group of the summer class students, and one of them told me that he was so bereft when he heard the news that he ended up going to James’s office and sitting on the hallway floor there and just “saying what I had to say.” And he talked to James about everything but Shakespeare. “I wanted to talk about all those other things that he cared about and enjoyed… I would have loved the man even if he’d never been my teacher.” He allowed himself only a few words of Shakespeare: “We few, we happy few.” James’s favorite speech, and one that this student had asked James to perform last summer, in the midst of that dark time just after his diagnosis, as the chemo was just starting to take its toll. James of course stepped up and performed it in a way that no one else could. “What I’m taking away from all this is… to be kind,” he said. “Not kind in an effusive way, like some people are, but in a real and gentle way, like he was. He never said a bad thing about anyone.”

Visiting the students, there was heartbreak, but also real joy. They can’t help but be happy when they get together. They had a great summer with James. Doc used to always tell us that a special part of the summer changed when the audiences arrived and the Barn filled with chairs, and that was the part of the summer they had with him, up until the chairs came in.

Doc, the summer class students were very touched by the email you sent to them yesterday.

Robin, I love the memory you just added to the thread. A gibbous moon! Yes, he always knew the damn word. Which meant he kicked our ass at Scrabble at Seton the few times I was able to play with him. He had the most elegant and beautiful way of pronouncing words too. He should have recorded a spoken version of the OED.

Terry, James did indeed get to watch the Longhorns cream Alabama, with Laurel and a room full of friends and family, and it was glorious. He didn’t feel great that day but reveled in the victory and was excited for the season to come. Then the next day he had he and Laurel had their Cowboys swag on – jerseys with the number 1 on the front and “LOEHLIN” on the back, sent by a beloved former student whose dad runs the concessions at JerryWorld – and cheered on Dallas as it crushed New York. James did not like using competition in his teaching but when it came to football, look out – he got a fierce gleam in his eye when his team was going for a win. “That’s what I’m talking about!” he slowly hollered out as the ‘Pokes ran up the score on the hapless Giants. It was a hoot.

Jenny – yes, brightness and serenity, that’s right.

Mary, Bruce – yes, a blessing, and a lovely man. And Madge and David, beautifully said, especially what you wrote about Laurel. Laurel has been such an incredible guide to all of this through this experience, from her CaringBridge posts to her texts to her coordinating visitors to her gift to speaking her mind and openly sharing her emotions and her boundless love for James and all the students they care for so deeply. I’ve been in awe of her grit and courage from the beginning of all this last summer.

Like Laertes I have a speech of fire that fain would blaze, but this folly douts it. I just wanted to get something down to say thanks to all of you for helping all of us as we grapple with this news and absorb it.

I remember James giving me a note in ’84 about Orlando in 1.1 in my confrontation with Oliver: “Draw on up to your full height…” – I’d never heard anyone say anything like that before. It stuck with me. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t drawing on up to my full height. I’d been kinda slouching, hiding a bit, tentative. He was saying: Go for it. Stand up tall and go for it. He already knew how to do that and continued demonstrating for me how to do that for the next 40 years.

I’m trying to do that today, my friend, but it’s hard. There will be a lot of things I’m doing for James from this moment forward. We’ll carry all of these wonderful qualities with us as best we can. Those blue eyes shining. A kind friend, as you said, Doc. Every single time you saw him, no matter how awful he felt in that hospital bed.

He never complained once. I never heard a word of self-pity or anger or resentment. As that student said to me: I hope I can be that strong.

We’ll watch the game tonight, and cheer on the team, for him. In my mind, that Tower will be orange for him. And we will continue to love Laurel, and support her, and to do what it takes to keep Shakespeare at Winedale going strong, because a part of James will always be out at that Barn and the meadows around it and under those pecans and outside the dorm where he taught the kids to sing, “A great while ago, the world begun, with a heigh ho, the wind and the rain…. But that’s all one, our play is done, and we’ll strive to please you every day…” And the woods around the Barn, where he and Laurel and the students ranged far and wide in their “peripatetic” performances. He gave that place and the students and the program his heart and soul every spring and summer. So he’ll always be out there with us.

Love and really intense hugs to all of you –

c

PS. I took a lot of photos of James out at Winedale last spring and summer, looking to capture some moments, memories. I knew they’d be precious later. Last spring, when we were working on “Midummer” out there the second weekend, there was a lovely crescent moon – not gibbous – and James stopped our work on the play to suggest we go outside and look at it, since it was such a presence in the text. So he walked slowly down the road with his walking stick and pointed out how you could seen Venus, I think it was, “in her glimmering sphere,” and the moon, together. Ever the gentle teacher, sharing a deep appreciation.

[A group of people standing in a field Description automatically generated]

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of polybear@sdc.org polybear@sdc.org Date: Friday, September 15, 2023 at 11:16 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: James Loehlin Thank you, Doc, for these beautiful, sad, and accurate words. I can't add any better words than those expressed by you and my associates. All I can say is the obvious, that I already miss and will always miss James.

Love to you all.

John

Quoting James Ayres jayres@cvctx.com:

...

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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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

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 mailto: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 mailto:jayres@cvctx.com> Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 7:05 PM To: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums <winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org mailto:winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org>; Shakespeare Winedale <shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com mailto: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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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I happened to come across this lovely piece by Casey Caldwell--"James Loehlin Sculpts in Time."

https://thehareonline.com/article/james-loehlin-sculpts-time

Love,

Mike

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 1:30 AM David Sharpe dpsharpeaustin@gmail.com wrote:

Thank you Doc for citing John Donne's poem, *For Whom the Bells Tolls,* in a reply to Heather Dolstra's beautiful email about James. The Donne poem still resonates upon each rereading. And my heartfelt thanks for Laurel Loehlin (in an earlier email on this thread) for quoting from *Romeo and Juliet*: "Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night, And pay no worship to the garish sun."

It's amazing how poems and lyrical verse can have a profound salutary effect on us going through hard times.

When I learned two years ago that James was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, almost immediately Shakespeare's words popped into my mind. The verse lines are from *Hamlet*, and they're spoken by the Player King: "Our wills and fates do so contrary run, that our devices still are overthrown; our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own."

In closing, I remember Clayton telling me that James said before a Shakespeare-at-Winedale class this year that there's almost not a thing in life that happens that there's not a line in Shakespeare about it.

On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 11:15 PM '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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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And James is also a contributor to that issue--which I somehow missed in February but now have read all of.

Here's the main table-of-contents page for the Hare articles: https://thehareonline.com/journal-issue/issue-61-james-loehlin .

Mike

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 3:47 PM Laurel Loehlin LLoehlin@bmiusa.com wrote:

Also, in the same Hare issue, see writings about James from Paul Woodruff, Carra Martinez, and Matt Davies.

Get Outlook for iOS https://aka.ms/o0ukef

*From:* Mike Godwin mnemonic@gmail.com *Sent:* Wednesday, September 20, 2023 2:22:10 PM *To:* shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com < shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com> *Cc:* Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums < winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Subject:* [Winedale-l] Re: James Loehlin

I happened to come across this lovely piece by Casey Caldwell--"James Loehlin Sculpts in Time."

https://thehareonline.com/article/james-loehlin-sculpts-time

Love,

Mike

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 1:30 AM David Sharpe dpsharpeaustin@gmail.com wrote:

Thank you Doc for citing John Donne's poem, *For Whom the Bells Tolls,* in a reply to Heather Dolstra's beautiful email about James. The Donne poem still resonates upon each rereading. And my heartfelt thanks for Laurel Loehlin (in an earlier email on this thread) for quoting from *Romeo and Juliet*: "Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine That all the world will be in love with night, And pay no worship to the garish sun."

It's amazing how poems and lyrical verse can have a profound salutary effect on us going through hard times.

When I learned two years ago that James was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, almost immediately Shakespeare's words popped into my mind. The verse lines are from *Hamlet*, and they're spoken by the Player King: "Our wills and fates do so contrary run, that our devices still are overthrown; our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own."

In closing, I remember Clayton telling me that James said before a Shakespeare-at-Winedale class this year that there's almost not a thing in life that happens that there's not a line in Shakespeare about it.

On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 11:15 PM '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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

---

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-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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James was my primary thesis advisor (at Doc’s wise counsel). His gentle, thoughtful, thorough guidance helped me steer my incoherent thoughts into a readable, defensible argument. I’ll miss him.

Josh

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 20:37 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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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Thanks for sharing this, Casey. I'm eager to read this issue. I didn't know James as well as many on this thread, but I liked him immensely. He made me feel so welcome the last time I was at Winedale. I always felt that the program was in good hands with him, and I'm sad at both the  personal loss and the program's loss.  Laurel's quote from Romeo and Juliet about James was perfectly on point - even I, with my limited knowledge of James, could see that. What a great soul.  Amy Carreon Oberst (summer 1989)

On Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 08:52:02 AM EDT, Casey Caldwell w.casey.caldwell@gmail.com wrote:

Hi, family, a short note on the issue of The Hare: I organized this when I learned of James's diagnosis and it features reflections from one of James's first students (Carra), a now director of an MFA program with similar values to Winedale (Matt), Paul Woodruff (who shares memories of James as his student (!) and notes from years of Winedale summers), and myself. James had the chance to read the issue before it went to virtual presses and shared his reflections on it and Winedale more generally. It is characteristically self-effacing but that self shines through all the more brightly for it. Link to the issue is here: https://thehareonline.com/

I love James, I miss him, and I grieve with you.  All my love,  Casey On Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 7:11 AM Joshua Eveleth joshua.eveleth@gmail.com wrote:

James was my primary thesis advisor (at Doc’s wise counsel). His gentle, thoughtful, thorough guidance helped me steer my incoherent thoughts into a readable, defensible argument. I’ll miss him.

Josh

On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 20:37 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) AyresProfessor Emeritus, The University of TexasFounding Director, Shakespeare at Winedale and Camp ShakespeareDirector of Mission, Camp Shakespeare

Jim (Doc) AyresProfessor Emeritus, The University of TexasFounding Director, Shakespeare at Winedale and Camp ShakespeareDirector of Mission, Camp Shakespeare

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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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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 mailto: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 mailto: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 mailto: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 mailto: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 mailto: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 mailto: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 mailto:jayres@cvctx.com> > Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 7:05 PM > To: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums <winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org mailto:winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org>; Shakespeare Winedale <shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com mailto: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

-- Be vigitant, I beseech you!

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Thank you, Rob, for taking the time to write this, and for sharing it with all of us. Beautiful and touches lightly and perfectly on so many aspects of that wonderful complete friend.

Love,

cs

From: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com on behalf of Robert Matney rmatney@gmail.com Date: Friday, November 3, 2023 at 12:54 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Winedale-l] James Loehlin 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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto:jayres@cvctx.com> Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 7:05 PM To: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums <winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.orgmailto:winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org>; Shakespeare Winedale <shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.commailto: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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Thank you, dearest Rob! This is perfect. You said everything I’d longed for the wit to express - eloquent, true and oh so touching. My heart goes out to everyone.

A favorite memory is you and James at the Globe….and every other moment we’ve shared. Such golden times.

I regretfully will be unable to attend though my heart is always there. There’s no place like Winedale!

So much love to you all! Joy Howard Marvin

Sent from Mailhttps://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986 for Windows

From: Mike Godwinmailto:mnemonic@gmail.com Sent: Friday, November 3, 2023 6:48 PM To: shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.commailto:shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.com Cc: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alumsmailto:winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org; Robert Matneymailto:rmatney@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Winedale-l] James Loehlin

Thank you for these words, Rob!

Mike

On Fri, Nov 3, 2023 at 1:53 PM Robert Matney <rmatney@gmail.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto: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.commailto:jayres@cvctx.com> Sent: Friday, September 15, 2023 7:05 PM To: Shakespeare at Winedale 1970-2000 alums <winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.orgmailto:winedale-l@lists.wikimedia.org>; Shakespeare Winedale <shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list@googlegroups.commailto: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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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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I love this picture, Casey. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you and everyone else who could attend.

Love,

Mike

On Sun, Nov 5, 2023 at 5:33 PM Casey Caldwell w.casey.caldwell@gmail.com wrote:

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 > > > > > > > -- > Be vigitant, I beseech you! > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send an email to > shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/C35BC73... > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/C35BC730-D7C1-4D2F-8E6E-DA52A2AEB314%40cvctx.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer > . > > > > -- > Be vigitant, I beseech you! > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send an email to > shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/DDACD64... > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/DDACD648-7C2B-4B57-A713-21B2380F3E95%40icloud.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer > . > > > -- > Be vigitant, I beseech you! > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Shakespeare at Winedale Email List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, > send an email to > shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/F700899... > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/shakespeare-at-winedale-email-list/F7008998-B261-49AF-BD32-42802B78067D%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer > . >

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