In 1974, he co-founded The Gazette, an Old Lyme, CT weekly newspaper, which survived into the late 1980s. He also co-published The Compass, a newspaper in Mystic, CT.
The Gazette was named the best newspaper in New England for its size. An annual April Fool’s Day article kept readers on their toes. The spoof caught the attention of The New York Times and is enshrined in the Museum of Hoaxes in San Diego, CA.
Holahan went on to write and freelance articles for newspapers and magazines, great and small nationwide, among them The New York Times, The Hartford Courant, Newsweek, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
In recent years he served as editor of the East Haddam News and wrote its nature column, “Wild Things,” to the last.
The son of Richard and Pamela Crawford Holahan of Huntington, NY, he is survived by his wife of 38 years, Kyn Tolson; his son and daughter-in-law, Jackson and Sarah Holahan; and grandson, Walker. Survivors also include three older brothers and their wives, Stephen and Bernadette Holahan of Rocky Hill, CT; Richard and Kathy Holahan of Queens, NY; and Michael and Jane Holahan of Avon, CT; and many nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by another brother, Thomas Holahan.
Holahan plied his trade while print journalism was constricting due to competition for content and advertising. Leisurely reading the Sunday paper on the back porch was long passé.
It was a wonderful life, Holahan said before his passing: “I will miss all my steadfast friends, colleagues, and family members near and far who made life in rural East Haddam so pleasant and purposeful.”
Among his proudest achievements is capturing the blue ribbon at the Hadlyme, CT Derby’s Giant Pumpkin competition. Gorgeous George weighed in at 525 pounds. Holahan wrote about George, of course. He also wrote about serious environmental questions such as climate change and habitat and species degradation, not just near home in Connecticut, but worldwide, as well.
Donations in his name can be made to the East Haddam Land Trust, P.O. Box 122, East Haddam, CT 06423.
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