Minneota author Bill Holm dead at 65
Minneota author William "Bill" Holm died Wednesday at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., Rehkamp-Horvath Funeral Directors said Thursday.
Holm won the prestigious McKnight Distinguished Artist Award in May. The award is sponsored by the McKnight Foundation and includes a $50,000 stipend.
Holm taught for 27 years in the English department and Southwest Minnesota State University. He retired during the 2007-2008 school year.
Friends and collegues likened Holm to authors Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Mark Twain for his sense of place and his moral stances including his ingdination with injustice.
"I'm just so heartsick," Holm's friend and former editor Emilie Buchwald said.
Holm's death comes just as he had more time to write in retirement, Buchwald said.
"I think he will be recognized as one of the most important writers to come out of this part of the country," Buchwald said.
Holm has written at least 10 books of essays and poetry including "Boxelder Bug Variations," "Coming Home Crazy," and the "Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere On Earth."
A sense of place was important to Holm, said Milkweed Editions Publisher Daniel Slager. Milkweed published many of Holm's books
As did Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman, Holm wrote of his places, Slager said.
Holm wrote "as if someone were talking to you," Slager said. "That is often attempted but rarely accomplished."
Holm is also often associated with his love of music and his skill at the piano.
Daniel Rieppel, a music professor who performed occasionally with Holm as part of a duet called "Big Guys with a Grand Piano" said, "Although Bill had many dear friends, he was my dearest friend."
While Holm wrote his works, it was often Sandy Mosch, a long-time SMSU administrative assistant in the English department, who typed them because Holm did not use a computer.
Mosch said she typed Holm's books and poems for many years.
"He wrote them in longhand," she said.
"Bill was a moralist," in the vein of Twain, Buchwald said. "People don't mind being scolded if they are scolded by someone who does it very well."
Services are pending with the funeral home.
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Williams
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02-26-09 3:33 PM
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This is stunning news. A great loss for Minneota and the entire southwest MN community. My heart aches knowing there will no longer be the wit and wisdom of Bill Holm. He was truly one of a kind. I also was one of his students at Southwest and those classes are my most memorable.
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Jeffrey
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02-26-09 3:07 PM
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It is hard to imagine SW Minnesota without Bill Holm. It will take along time for this to sink in. In the mean time Bill, you are in my thoughts, always. Marcy, you are in there too. RIP Holm, we will remember you…
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merioncooper
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02-26-09 2:22 PM
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The most important voice of our region, maybe the most important person of the region. Bill was a great friend, great writer who made you think about your place in the world, and the world at large. He could write with anger, or with great grace and humanity and do either with the kind of power and skill that made him very much larger than life. We are the better for having him among us. A huge loss.
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akmacdo
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02-26-09 1:37 PM
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I simply can't believe this. He was always larger than life. I have known him most of my life and what I know about poetry I learned from him.
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