Michael Lee Hall, age 76, died December 21, 2022, at his home in Lago Vista, Texas. He was born January 2, 1946, in San Antonio, Texas, to Lorraine Louise Horn and Ocie Willard McClelland. When he was three years old, he was adopted by his mother's second husband, John Edward Hall.
Michael grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Thomas A. Edison High School where he was active in many organizations. He began his college days at San Antonio College, intending to major in architecture, but a love of classical literature led him to change majors when he moved on to the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating from UT with a degree in Classics, he taught high school Latin in Pampa, Texas, before returning to graduate school, at UT where he earned an MA in 1972 for a thesis entitled, " Myth and Ritual in Death of a Salesman; and, Shakespeare's Adaptation of Chaucer : A Comparison of The Knight's Tale and The Two Noble Kinsmen." He next attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland where he was awarded a PhD for a dissertation entitled "The Rhetoric of Discovery: Knowledge and Action in the Sermons of John Donne" (1977). His dissertation director was Professor Arnold Stein.
After receiving his PhD from Hopkins, Michael taught in the English department of Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, eventually becoming department chairman. He was awarded a number of fellowships while at Centenary. In the mid-1980s, Michael also co-authored a textbook, "LIT: Literature and Interpretive Techniques" with Wilfred Guerin, Earle Labor, and several others, mostly colleagues in the English department at Centenary. The book was published by Harper & Row, and was fairly popular in English departments for quite a while. One can read the book online at Internet Archive. The book includes Michael's translation of Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale."
Michael and Joy were dear friends of fellow bookclub member, Bill Briggs. They continued their friendship after they all moved to the DC area and on their retutn to Texas.
He married his wife, Joy (Schmidt), in 1966 in Los Angeles Heights Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. Joy was the daughter of Frank Alvin and Velma Davis Schmidt. Both were students at UT. They had an amazingly happy marriage and celebrated their 56th anniversary in August of 2022.
After living in Virginia for over a quarter century, they moved back to Texas in 2012, and made Lago Vista their home.
In 2021, Michael published a memoir of his growing up in San Antonio, "My San Antonio Childhood: A Memoir." Michael says of his memoir, “What I have actually done is simply tell some stories.” They will bring back many memories for those growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. The book is available at Amazon.
Michael was preceded in death by his mother, his stepfather, and his birth father. He is survived by his wife Joy, his brothers Randy Hall (and wife Kathleen) and Larry Hall (and wife Darlene), niece Christine Hall, nephew Jason Hall (and wife Hannah), aunt Helen Gay Smith, cousins Linda Burton, Bill Burton (and wife Cindy), Kathy Burton, and numerous grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and cousins.
Michael had a great sense of humor; he loved to laugh and make others laugh. He was a scholar, a poet, and an enthusiastic teacher. He was also a talented musician, playing guitar, accordion, harmonica, ukulele, and piano. He was a Spurs fan and hated to see them lose a game. He was a loyal friend and a wonderful husband. He was well loved, and the world will be a sadder place without him.
