Carl Ryanen-Grant, 1975–2000
Carl Ryanen-Grant, Bancroft's gifted Administrative Assistant, who coordinated our events and outreach programs and assisted Bancroft in nearly every area of administrative support died Monday, February 28 after a long struggle with malignant melanoma.
Carl began working at Bancroft in August 1998. His association with the Library began even earlier, however, when he served as a student workleader in Inter-Library Services while an undergraduate at Berkeley. Carl's undergraduate career was nothing short of stellar. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa as a junior and was an Alumni Scholar as well as a member of the Dean's List. He also served as director of the Cal in Berkeley Student Internship Program, which recruits students for placement in local government or community internships. Carl also maintained a 4.0 grade point average, even after his melanoma diagnosis in January 1996. Carl graduated in 1997 with a degree in History and the University's highest honor, the University Medal, awarded each year to the most distinguished graduating senior at UC Berkeley. He spoke at the Commencement Convocation where he jokingly referred to himself as keynote speaker Bill Cosby's "opening act." For a time, Carl was a minor celebrity, with local newspaper and television interviews, an appearance in People magazine, and a featured appearance as ABC News's "Person of the Week."
Through it all, however, Carl maintained a sense of balance. When asked how he managed to walk away with the Class of 1997's top academic honor, Carl replied in an interview at the time, "The irony is I'm much more content with my life than I was before. I now know what's important in the grand scheme basically, solid and fulfilling personal relationships. My mother, for example, we now see each other all the time, we talk on the phone almost every day, she drives me to the doctor. This has reinvigorated our relationship. Which doesn't mean that essays and classes and tests aren't important, but they exist in a limited sphere. I realized that in five or ten years, it's not going to matter one whit whether I got an A or a B on a particular French examination, say, but my friends, this community, will affect my happiness for the balance of my life."
—Terry Boom and Peter Hanff
Volume 117
Fall 2000
Table of Contents
Acquiring the Nine-Millionth Book
From the Director: Bancroft 1900, Bancroft 2000
Cal Day and the Friends Annual Meeting
Thanks For the Memories: Photograph Albums and Historical Images
Who Was "G.G., Chief of Ordnance"?
A Peek at the New Edition of Huckleberry Finn
A ROHO Project: The AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco
Nuts and Bolts: Creating a Bancroft Exhibition
Kudos for the Mark Twain Exhibit Catalogue
Jim Holliday Receives Hubert Howe Bancroft Award
GIFTS TO THE BANCROFT LIBRARY July 1, 1999 through June 30, 2000
