Edward L. Grimm

Edward L. Grimm, 92 – editor, author, cherished husband and father of two – died March 13, 2024, in a Manchester-area hospice of complications stemming from a stroke. He was born December 2, 1931 to Lores Grimm, a former leading Broadway child actor of his day, and Katherine "Kitty" Cavanaugh. He was raised in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, but rather than root for the nearby baseball Giants, he and his dad trekked out to Ebbets Field to cheer for their beloved Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ed served in the Army during peacetime as a court reporter and guard on Governor’s Island in New York harbor. He graduated from CCNY (City College of New York), the "poor-man’s Harvard," and got his Master's in English at NYU.  He spent most of his working years as a writer and editor for IBM’s award-winning magazine, “Think.”  In retirement, he taught creative writing to adults and poetry to children in New York's public schools.  He was a longtime parishioner at New York’s St. Gregory the Great, where he wrote the bulletin as well as a history of the church. He is fondly remembered by friends there for helping to wage a valiant fight to keep St. Gregory’s doors open for its diverse congregation. While the church was eventually closed, the efforts gave it an additional 2 years of life in the community. An avid jogger, Ed was proud to have run two NYC marathons while in his 50s.

Ed wrote three books – “The Doorman,” a children’s book illustrated by his dear friend Ted Lewin, "The Splendid Sliver," about the history of Manhattan's Riverside Park, and "A Poem Ago," a self-published book of his poetry. His “Sestina For Billie Holliday” from the book ends: "Lady Day, gone like smoke, Remembered as light, With us and Warm."

Ed married Flavia LoPiccolo on April 30, 1959. They spent most of their lives in an apartment on Riverside Drive on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. They raised two children, Ellen and Christopher, both of whom also became writers in different fields. After 90 years living in New York, he and Flavia moved to Manchester, NH in 2021 to be closer to family.

Ed loved his wife and family, Fire Island (where they summered for years), the written word, baseball, jazz, opera, the New York Times and all things New York City. Most of all, Ed loved brightening people’s lives with laughter. Ed may have left, but not without leaving his family and legions of friends with joyous memories that will forever bring them smiles and laughter.

Ed leaves behind his wife of almost 65 years, Flavia; their daughter Ellen and her husband Mark Hayward of Manchester; their son Christopher and his wife Sylvie of Brooklyn, N.Y.; four beloved grandchildren – Luke and Lillian Hayward, Milo and Enza Grimm – and numerous treasured nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his sister Jeanne and her husband Stan “Uncle Bear” Thomas.

Haven

by Edward Grimm

Hunched in shelter, gulls wait out the storm,

Watching, wings folded, under jutting rock,

Bored spectators at the cloud-rain performance.

Silent ones these, massed, forsaking sky

And the fanned ornament of flight

Until sun shall journey with them

And coat their gliding shapes with warmth.