My wife and I were delighted late last night to see this article in the Deseret News: “Meet the 97-year-old pianist playing 7 shows a week at the Utah Shakespeare Festival: For the last 22 years, Doreen Woolley has played at the festival — without sheet music, and usually while looking up to greet people as they walk by, all without missing a beat”
She is one of the most astonishing people that either of us has ever met. I first came in contact with the Woolley family in the Hinckley Hall dormitory, prior to my mission. One of their sons was a dorm neighbor, and he was taking a course in classical Greek, which gave me the idea of doing the same thing. (I eventually graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Greek and philosophy.). Shortly after I was called to the Switzerland Zürich Mission, he was called to that mission, as well. There was a slight confusion about where I would end up; some of the paperwork had me going on to Beirut from Switzerland; Lebanon was under the administration of the Zürich mission at that time — partly, I suppose, because of Swiss neutrality. In the end, I never went on to Lebanon, but he did. Which, although I love Switzerland and would have been heartbroken to leave it, left me deeply envious. (I had studied some Arabic already, though not very effectively, before my mission call.)
We communicated a bit during our missions and remained friendly thereafter back at BYU. After I had graduated, he was there in the Salt Lake Temple for my wedding. We afterwards spent time at their home in the Bay Area. I headed off for study in Israel and Egypt; he went to law school at the University of Chicago. (Just prior to that, he and I played a comically inept game of golf at his father’s country club. At least, I was terrible.) In the meantime, I came to know his entire family. His father (later a mission president in France) was an M.D., and my friend and I briefly came along to “help” once while his father served as the resident medical officer for a Latter-day Saint girls’ camp. Among other things, too, he and his father took me along on a camping trip up in Northern California — we were washed out after one long and noisy night in one of the most torrential downpours that I’ve ever seen — and they eventually introduced me to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. On the basis of that experience, I resolved that Shakespeare festivals would be a part of my future family’s tradition. Happily, I married a theater major, so that has not been a problem.
When we go down to Cedar City, where both my friend and his widowed mother now live, we typically get his play reviews before we go. (He is a serious theatergoer, and even did some acting at BYU while an undergraduate.) And we always try to visit with them at her home and, usually, to go out to dinner with them.
What the article says about her capacity to play effortlessly without sheet music while carrying on a casual conversation is absolute true. It’s one of the things about her that most amaze us. It’s perfectly astonishing, and I cannot imagine myself ever being able to do anything remotely of the kind. When, sadly, my mother in law (who had taught piano) was beginning to enter into dementia but was still able to go down with us to Cedar City for the plays, one of her favorite things (and one of ours) was to visit with Doreen while she sat playing the piano in the lobby of the Randall L. Jones Theater. Doreen was kindness and understanding personified, and she still is.
My admiration and respect for her is immense, and having her and her family — including my almost life-long college friend and his siblings — as influential factors in my life has been one of its greatest blessings,
Newly posted today on the moribund and never-changing website of the Interpreter Foundation:
- “The Interpreter Foundation Podcast — July 7, 2025: Is There the Possibility of Progression Between Kingdoms in the Afterlife?” In the 7 July 2025 episode of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Bruce Webster and Kris Frederickson and Martin Tanner discussed the Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson for July 7 – 13 and Martin then discussed the question: “Is There the Possibility of Progression Between Kingdoms in the Afterlife?” You can listen to or download the discussion segment of the podcast episode at the link given above. The Come, Follow Me segment of the episode is published separately.
- Interpreter Foundation Come, Follow Me Podcast: July 7 – July 13: “No Weapon That Is Formed against You Shall Prosper”: Doctrine & Covenants 76: For the 7 July 2025 Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Bruce Webster, Kris Frederickson, and Martin Tanner discussed the Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson for July 7 – July 13, covering D&C 76.
- “The Interpreter Foundation Podcast — July 3, 2025: Is Jesus Savior of all Worlds or Does Each Have a Savior?” For the 3 July 2025 episode of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, our host was Martin Tanner. He discussed the Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson for June 30 – July 6 and the question: “Is Jesus Savior of all Worlds or Does Each Have a Savior?” You can listen to or download the discussion segment of the podcast episode via the preceding link. The Come, Follow Me segment of the episode is published separately.
- Interpreter Foundation Come, Follow Me Podcast: June 30 – July 6: “No Weapon That Is Formed against You Shall Prosper”: Doctrine & Covenants 71 to 75: For the 3 July 2025 Come, Follow Me segment of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast, Martin Tanner discussed the Come, Follow Me Doctrine & Covenants lesson for June 30 – July 6 covering D&C 71 to 75. You can listen to or download the Come, Follow Me segment of the 3 July 2025 episode of the Interpreter Foundation Podcast at the link provided immediately above. The Discussion segment of the 3 July 2025 radio show can be accessed at https://interpreterfoundation.org/interpreter-podcast-july-3-2025.
And now, as we commonly do, we close with some items that have been retrieved from the seemingly inexhaustible Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File™:
- “Missionaries in Action: Service That Transforms Communities”
- “Remembering Global Youth Service Day: Youth in Chandler, Arizona, Lead Multi-Activity Service Project: The Chandler Arizona South Stake youth lead multi-activity service project to help four different organizations”
Posted from Canmore, Alberta, Canada
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