Cranbrook rector bound for D.C. talks religion, politics

[rug]

October 7, 2012
By Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

The Rev. Gary Hall is the son of a noted actor and was raised in Hollywood amid celebrities. Church wasn't a part of his life at all.

But that changed after he learned about the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s. He remembers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visiting southern California and hearing Malcolm X speak when he was a teenager. He once wrote jokes for TV host Steve Allen, who influenced his social views. And during his freshman year at Yale, the university's chaplain was arrested on the steps of the Pentagon, another act that drew Hall to liberal Christianity.

Last week, Hall, 62, became dean of Washington National Cathedral, the national seat of the Episcopal Church and considered America's house of worship. The move came after he served as rector at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, the biggest Episcopal Church in Michigan. He was also the chaplain at Cranbrook's high school.

"There are people in this parish that think I have dangerously, crazy ideas about things," he jokes about his progressive beliefs.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121007/NEWS05/310070228/Cranbrook-rector-bound-for-D-C-talks-religion-politics

I had to look up who his father was.



Huntz Hall from the Bowery Boys.

[cbayer]

1. More very good news. Talk about the bully pulpit!

That's where all the big events take place - weddings, funerals, baptisms. He is going to have a lot of opportunity to talk to some rainmakers and legislators.

The Episcopal Church seems to be moving in the right direction more and more.


Never heard of his father, though.

[rug]

2. Yes, he's a good choice for a prominent position.

But you never heard of the Bowery Boys? Their reuns were right up there with the Three Stooges. The started out as the Dead End Kids in Cagney's "Angels With Dirty Faces". Then they became a B list franchise.

Huntz Hall himself invested his earnings in off shore oil leases and made millions.

[cbayer]

3. My parents were very restrictive about TV.

Three Stooges was verboten due to the violence.

I've heard of the Bowery Boys, but I don't recall ever seeing a single episode of their show. To be honest with you, I thought they were on the radio.

[Jim__]

4. Huntz Hall's son, who'd a thunk it?

[rug]

5. Now I'm off to search the fate of Leo Gorcey's kids.