Remembering Professor Grant Holly, 1944-2022

On the eighth of November 2022, the HWS campus learned of the deeply saddening passing of Professor of English Grant Holly. Professor Holly was an acclaimed screenwriter and academic, and a staple of the community as the longest serving faculty member. Professor Holly was truly beloved by many friends and students on campus, and his work impacted countless lives .

The staff at The Herald extend our condolences to the family of Professor Holly and all grieving during this difficult time. While it is impossible to truly capture a life within a page, we have selected these stories to try and honor the life and memory of an esteemed member of our community.

“Professor Holly was truly one of the greatest professors here. As a biochemistry major, I always felt a bit out of place in his classes, but he encouraged me to speak up and bring my different perceptive to the class. Professor Holly saw the best in every student and always wanted to connect with every student he encountered. Even after my classes with him, he continued to make an effort to stay in touch with me.

His joy for films and psychoanalysis was contagious and it was obvious that he loved what he did. What made Professor Holly unique was his quick-wit and out of pocket humor that was guaranteed to make you laugh. He always had a story or anecdote for every topic. Shockingly, I never heard him share the same story twice.

I loved walking past his office whenever I had the chance since I knew I’d see an inviting and happy smile when I would. Even a year after taking his screenwriting course, he still tried to convince me to work on my script because he believed I had the creativity and potential to take the script much further and deeper than I did. Thank you for all the encouragement you sent my way and for sharing your passions with all of us. Professor Holly, I am so thankful that our paths crossed, and you will be greatly missed.” teamed up to play in a two-man, two-day golf tournament at Geneva Country Club. Grant was hot as a firecracker on the event’s first day, making amazing shot after amazing shot and leading our team to first place.

Unfortunately, we didn’t play well on the second day and finished far from first. No problem. Grant took the loss in good spirit and didn’t yell at me once. We reflected on the defeat for years.

I have been honored to work with Grant since 1999 when I first came to Geneva. From day one as a senior member of the faculty – he was unfailingly kind and generous to this inexperienced president.

Supportive and direct, he taught me a great deal about our faculty, Hobart and William Smith and the promise of this special place.

I was fortunate to travel with him to Los Angeles as he created a vibrant and essential program for our students and witnessed his engagement in the classroom.

And so it is a challenge to sum up this magnificent man. His boundless energy – for friendships and teaching. His keen and inquisitive mind – for ideas and concepts. His unfailing dedication to his students. His unflagging commitment to these Colleges and his colleagues. All this week, I have been thinking of Bob Dylan’s song “Forever Young” – because Grant Holly was forever young. Young in ideas. Young in approaches to different generations of students. Young with a wickedly funny sense of humor. And young in style.

The accolades for Grant Holly in this issue of the Herald are all true – and then some. I know this because Grant was my friend.

And a treasured friend he was. I regret that I didn’t get to spend more time with him, but cherish the time we had – dining out, playing golf, discussing children, politics, his work, the latest news.

I learned of his passing from a mutual friend who had spoken with Grant earlier on the day he died. This can’t be, I thought. But it was true. His passing is a heartbreaking loss for the HWS and Geneva communities – and beyond.

We were trying to set up an evening dinner with Grant and Suzie when people learned the shocking news.

At past get-togethers, Grant would always greet me with: “Carlos the Jackal.” According to Wikipedia, Carlos the Jackal is a Venezuelan convicted of terrorist crimes and currently serving a life sentence in France for murder. I think Grant just enjoyed giving mild-mannered me the name of Carlos, the Spanish equivalent of the name Charles.

Quite a few years ago, Grant and I

Grant gave me a great gift for my 70 th birthday five years ago: a collection of the top-shelf ingredients needed to make my own Manhattan cocktail.

I swear the precise preparation tasted better because it came from him.

Grant’s legendary sense of humor was both kind and razor sharp. He could switch from light-hearted banter to serious subjects in the blink of an eye, so you had to pay attention. He was a world-class storyteller.

I sat next to him at the celebration of the millennium in Geneva. My thought was: Grant is one in a million.

Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan could have been thinking about Grant when he wrote the song Forever Young.

Here is the first verse:

May God bless and keep you always

May your wishes all come true

May you always do for others

And let others do for you

May you build a ladder to the stars

And climb on every rung

May you stay forever young

May you stay forever young