by Ken Kreps
©2003, all rights reserved
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Over the years I have written political articles, short stories, humor pieces, consumer advice, articles on social issues, health related articles, and articles and essays on other varied topics. I have also writen several audio (radio) plays, which have been heard nationwide, as well as three short film screenplays. But I have never written anything as unusual as what you’re reading now.
This article is about the life and times of my friend, Holmes Easley. Not unusual, you say, as many writers have done pieces about friends or family. True enough. However, what makes this article unusual is that, except for one brief meeting with Holmes on the campus of Stanford University in 1965, I haven’t seen him in forty-seven years and for the majority of those years had no idea what he was doing.
As it turns out, what he was doing was pretty amazing. He garnered higher degrees from both Ohio University and the Theater Arts department at Yale University, taught at both Stanford and Colgate universities, and was a set designer for several noted theaters around the country before going to work for CBS. He served 25 years there as set designer on The Guiding Light, Captain Kangaroo, and As The World Turns, winning an Emmy for his work on the latter. He also designed sets at the Roundabout Theater in New York City, winning two Obie awards for best set-design.
All his notable work is, in itself, the stuff that articles, which fill trade papers, theater magazines and the like are made of, but that’s not the focus I have in mind.
Instead, I want to take you back to the undergraduate days of two college roommates in a small college in West Texas, known then as Sul Ross State College (it’s now a university). It was the fifties, the economy was booming and Holmes and I each found our way to Sul Ross by quite different means. I was there on a music scholarship while Holmes was there to study at the school’s promising drama department. The same department, by the way, that produced Dan Blocker of “Bonanza” fame.
In the four years I attended Sul Ross and the three Holmes attended (he graduated in three years) I saw this gangly kid from the small town of Cotulla, Texas, blossom as an actor and as a person. He was bright, witty, flip, irreverent, and totally enjoyable to be around. Well, most of the time. He had a recording of the Broadway musical, The Pajama Game, and he drove me up the wall or under my pillow by playing the same song from that record over and over. It was called, “I figured It Out” and he played it constantly.
Holmes, ever the showman, was the drum major of the college band and his high strutting antics stole many a half-time show from a pretty good band. His showmanship wasn’t merely confined to the band, as he would often make a grand entrance into our dorm room, flinging open an imaginary cape while proclaiming, “Huzzah.”
Never let it be said I’m claiming Holmes was perfect. Like the rest of us, he was not. I’m reminded of the time during a homecoming parade down the main street of our small college town, when Holmes (usually quite adept with a baton) threw his up in the air, missed it as he attempted to catch it on the way down, stepped on it and fell down, ass over tea kettle, in front of the band. He went on with the show (or the parade, as it was) but in private he was mortified over the incident for weeks.
Holmes originally wanted to attend Texas University in Austin, Texas, but through a series of circumstances, found himself as a student at much smaller Sul Ross. To this day, I don’t know the full extent of those circumstances, but I will be eternally grateful for them.
Several years ago, I made contact via the Internet with Dr. Bill Thomson, another memorable and important figure from my college experiences. Bill (or Dr. Thomson as we called him then) was an excellent young teacher in the music department and any success I had as a professional musician after departing college is due in part, to his guidance and teachings. Through Bill, I made e-mail contact with Holmes and several others I considered close friends in college. Holmes and I began to exchange long e-mails as we relived those early days of higher education for both of us. We also discussed, in detail, where we had been since last seeing each other, where we were and where we hoped to go with our lives. These e-mails were open and honest with two old roommates discussing their lives, their hopes and their dreams (both fulfilled and unfulfilled). I’m so very grateful we had the opportunity to exchange them.
In the end, we realized that while both of us had willingly left Texas for greener pastures (I went west and Holmes went east), we acknowledged the influence growing up in Texas had on our lives. I’ve seen this same realization in others. We may leave Texas behind as we rush to new adventures in other states and sometimes, even other lands, but once the dust has settled, deep down we realize we’re still Texans….we just don’t live there anymore.
Holmes, a long time New York City resident, passed away early in October, 2003, from cancer while on a trip to California. He was as unique as he was talented. But most of all, even though we only re-established contact in the last couple of years, Holmes was my friend. They say college is beneficial, not only for the actual study and learning process, but also for the experiences one has as a student. And so it was with my association with Holmes. Holmes was one of the latch pins, which made my college days so special. Rest in peace, my friend and please know, you will never be forgotten.
©2003 by Ken Kreps. This article may not be re-published in electronic or print media without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.
Ken Kreps lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife. He has written a number of published articles, essays and short stories, as well as numerous consumer and business pieces. Ken has also written scripts for Imagination Theater, an award winning audio drama series heard on over 150 commercial radio stations across the nation, as well as in several foreign countries. He recently completed three short film screenplays. For the past ten years, Ken has concentrated on acting, studying in the Seattle, Washington and Dallas, Texas areas, and apperaring in independent short, and feature films, television commercials, and various types of voice-over work.
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