Rest in Peace, Dave Henshaw
I was saddened to hear about
But then, here I was in New England, with no job and no real direction. I knew people in the poetry scene, of course, but that's kind of a small pool to rebuild a life on. So ... acting. Why not give it a tumble again? I saw the the Barre Players were holding an audition for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) -- a show I love and know well. So, naturally, I botched the audition something fierce. I left terribly defeated.
Anyway, years later, after I'd moved back to California and then back again to New England, I found myself working at the Telegram, nights on the copy desk, with the requisite cast of colorful characters that nights in a newsroom seem to attract.Dave was one of the copy editors working there at the time, and after a few weeks of wondering where I'd seen him before, I realized he was at that audition, the one where I embarrassed myself enough to swear off theater again.
Dave didn't remember the incident, which goes to show that things that are embarrassing to you are often inconsequential to other people, which is a lesson worth remembering. And if that's a strange story to memorialize Dave on, well ... I suppose they all are. Dave was a nice man, mildly theatrical, even in everyday life. He was erudite and literate, and a joy to talk to about books and theater (although sometimes it was hard to get him to stop talking :) One night, Dave and I thoroughly annoyed our colleagues by quoting tracts of Shakespeare and Yeats back at each other.
He was a nice man, and his presence has been missed at the office since his retirement. He's missed now.
But then, here I was in New England, with no job and no real direction. I knew people in the poetry scene, of course, but that's kind of a small pool to rebuild a life on. So ... acting. Why not give it a tumble again? I saw the the Barre Players were holding an audition for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) -- a show I love and know well. So, naturally, I botched the audition something fierce. I left terribly defeated.
Anyway, years later, after I'd moved back to California and then back again to New England, I found myself working at the Telegram, nights on the copy desk, with the requisite cast of colorful characters that nights in a newsroom seem to attract.Dave was one of the copy editors working there at the time, and after a few weeks of wondering where I'd seen him before, I realized he was at that audition, the one where I embarrassed myself enough to swear off theater again.
Dave didn't remember the incident, which goes to show that things that are embarrassing to you are often inconsequential to other people, which is a lesson worth remembering. And if that's a strange story to memorialize Dave on, well ... I suppose they all are. Dave was a nice man, mildly theatrical, even in everyday life. He was erudite and literate, and a joy to talk to about books and theater (although sometimes it was hard to get him to stop talking :) One night, Dave and I thoroughly annoyed our colleagues by quoting tracts of Shakespeare and Yeats back at each other.
He was a nice man, and his presence has been missed at the office since his retirement. He's missed now.
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