A highly accomplished journalist, Lynette Holloway’s writing was featured in The New York Times, Ebony Magazine, People Magazine, Black Issues Book Review, and the National Black MBA Association Magazine, among other publications. Ms. Holloway’s work delves into social justice, education, green living, politics, pop culture, and fashion, seemingly disparate topics on the surface level, although connected by a common thread at their core. Lynette Holloway’s writing, no matter what the subject matter, speaks to her abiding concern for the human condition, an attribute that sets Ms. Holloway apart in her field. During her tenure at The New York Times, Lynette Holloway joined a team of writers to produce Portraits of Grief, a project that began as a compilation of sorts, a definitive list cataloguing the victims of 9/11. Portraits of Grief took on a deeper meaning, however, when Lynette Holloway and her fellow writers began to interview victim’s families. For instance, Staten Island grandmother Myrna Yaskulka had an affinity for pink, rhinestone-studded sunglasses and leopard-print pants. Kevin Dowdell was a decorated firefighter, a true hero who humbly took on a second job sanding floors to support his wife and children. Diane Urban lived as an opinioned firecracker of a woman who rarely censored her words. When she died, her friends and relatives considered making T-shirts emblazoned with the statement: “Diane Urban Told Me Off” to wear at her memorial service. Novelist Paul Auster said of the project, “One felt, looking at those pages every day, that real lives were jumping out at you.” Portraits of Grief took Lynette Holloway and her peers six months to complete, an undertaking that became both deeply satisfying and emotionally taxing. Winning a Pulitzer Prize, Portraits of Grief approached a politically volatile subject from a deeply humanistic perspective, uncovering the poignant details of lives lived fully and yet cut short too soon. The snapshots of individuals featured in Portraits of Grief captured bright moments and personal stories alike, celebrating life in an elegantly impressionistic manner.
