Completely in the Dark

God knows I’m no actor. Nor have I ever had a burning desire to be one.

But Mom knew I was interested in the arts, so she took me to readings and lectures. (In February 1975 we went to a talk at the University of Minnesota on “Romanticism in Literature.” Go figure. I wouldn’t have remembered that without rereading my diaries.)

She also introduced me to the theater.

In the fall of 1978, we saw a performance of Hamlet at the Guthrie, with Randall Duk Kim as the Dane. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the Guthrie’s stage manager, Bob Bye, would five years later direct me in the role of Dr. Sanderson in a Westonka community theater production of Mary Chase’s Harvey. After that we did Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, where I had the part of the catalyst, George Deever.

At one point Bye pulled…