Author Kent Haruf, author of luminous novels about life on Colorado's eastern plains, died last fall, and this year, the Denver Center presented Benediction, dramatized by Eric Schmiedl, the third of Haruf's novels the company has staged. Set in the fictional town of Holt, it tells the story of Dad Lewis, an old man dying with unresolved wrongs and griefs on his conscience. It didn't hurt that the estimable Mike Hartman returned to town to play the role with his customary guts, talent and integrity. A web of ancillary characters brought the small, fictional town of Holt to life, and the result was a sense of tribute, peace and, yes, benediction.