Minnesota author Bill Holm dies

[Lydia Leftcoast]

Bill Holm, a larger-than-life author from Minneota, Minn., died Wednesday at a hospital in Sioux Falls.

The Rehkamp-Horvath funeral home in Marshall announced his death this morning.

Holm, 65, divided his time between his birthplace of Minneota and Iceland, the country of his forebears, was a longtime English professor at Southwest Minnesota State University and the author of several books of poems and essays.

His works include "The Dead Get By With Everything" (1990), "The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth" (1996), "Coming Home Crazy (2000), "Playing the Black Piano" (2004) and "The Windows of Brimnes: An American in Iceland" (2007).

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/40354082.html?cache=n&uccb=1235681225#post_comments

This is a sad day for booklovers in Minnesota. Bill Holm was not only a wonderful writer whose international experiences gave him an interesting perspective, but a highly entertaining speaker.

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1. Sad news indeed

I met Bill on a few occasions, most notably when he was a writer-in-residence at Gustavus (his alma mater) one January, where I was a student. My most favorite memories of him involve him stomping around campus (all 6'8" of him), smoking indoors wherever he wanted to (on a 99% smoke-free campus), almost defying the winter to take him on, while laughing the whole time.

I have other friends from college who knew him better, and spent a lot of time with him. He was truly a Minnesota treasure; the de facto poet laureate of the state.