Deceased August 20, 2011
View alumni profile (Log in required)
Read obituary
In Memory
Ed arrived at Amherst in the fall of 1950 from Rahway, N.J, having prepared at The Pingry School. He signed up for Air Force ROTC, as many of us did, and took the required freshman courses; in the spring he pledged Kappa Theta fraternity.
Ed was quiet but active. He worked on the Amherst Student, the News Bureau, and WAMF radio station. He was on the Board of Editors of Context magazine, a student publication that described itself as a “basically intellectual” alternative to the humor of Sabrina magazine. He sang with the Glee Club, and was business manager for the Masquers at Kirby Theater. He ran both indoor and outdoor track as well as cross country, was awarded his class numerals in track, and earned election to Sphinx honorary society in his sophomore year. By his own account he became serious about his honors work in English in his senior year, with the result that he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude.
In our 50th reunion recollections, Ed described himself as “still a work in progress”. He had “navigated airplanes for Uncle Sam for nine years (4,000 hours in the air, mostly overseas)”, and had earned an M.Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary followed by a year at Yale on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He migrated to Macon, Ga., joined the faculty of Mercer Univ., earned a Ph.D, from the Univ. of Ga., and subsequently began to write reviews and columns, which evolved into editorial roles, for the Macon newspaper. He never really retired from journalism, although he also continued to teach college English.
When Ed died on August 20, 2011, the newspaper editor described him as “a great writer, a great editor and a great human being.” He is survived by Jean, his wife of 40 years, and their daughter Kitty and two granddaughters who live nearby. The condolences of our class go out to his family.
Steve Oresman '54 and Chuck Grimstad '54