A Bouquet of Birthday Wishes from Mark Twain Scholars to Hal Holbrook on his 94th Birthday: What “Mark Twain Tonight!” Means To Us

Posted on by Shelley Fisher Fishkin

2018 was the first year since 1954 that Hal Holbrook (who retired in September of 2017) did not perform “Mark Twain Tonight!”

I compiled this video to honor him on his 94th Birthday (February 17th) and to remind him that although he is no longer performing, his show continues to have an impact on what scholars write and what students learn in Hamden and Hong Kong; in San Antonio, Syracuse, and Stanford; in Charleston, Cambridge, and Tokyo – in short, all over the world. The seventeen scholars in this video pay homage – each in his or her own way – to what the show has meant to them and what they learned from it, in addition to conveying warm birthday wished to its star.

I am pleased to report he was delighted.