Former Rockville Centre resident, accomplished journalist Ron Hollander dies at 80

Ron Hollander

Former Rockville Centre resident and retired journalism professor Ron Hollander died suddenly at his home in Rocky Point on Feb. 26, 2022. He was 80.

Hollander was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Rockville Centre. He began his newspaper career as the co-editor of the South Side High School newspaper and went on to be a journalism professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey.

In 1962, Hollander dropped out of Brandeis University and hitchhiked to Jackson, Miss., where he began reporting for the Mississippi Free Press. Medgar and Merlie Evers suggested he investigate the wrongful incarceration of Clyde Kennard, and he did, ultimately writing a piece for The Reporter magazine. That article came to the attention of the U.S. attorney general and contributed to Kennard’s release.

Hollander returned to Brandeis, graduating in 1963. Soon after, he went to work and write for The Virginian-Pilot, the Fairbanks Miner, Newsday, Town and Country magazine, The Montclair Times, The Record, the New York Post, The New York Times and Cable News Network, among other media. As the youngest reporter for the Pilot, he was assigned the lead covering President Kennedy’s assassination when he was only 22.

After his long reporting career, Hollander began 25 years heading the Journalism and Jewish Holocaust Studies program at Montclair State. There he dug into the story of Lionel trains, one of his collecting passions. In 1981, Workman Press published Hollander’s illustrated definitive history, “All Aboard!: The Story of Joshua Lionel Cowen and His Lionel Train Company.”

Hollander wrote about and was active in civil rights, the women’s movement, anti-war activities, African wildlife concerns and more.

Hollander was predeceased by his parents, Seymour and Beatrice Fischer Hollander, and his sister, Andrea Hollander. He is survived by his beloved daughter Mei Ming Cornue-Hollander. and his younger brothers, Marshall and Lawrence Davis Hollander. He was buried from Gutterman’s Funeral Home and interred at Beth Moses Cemetery in West Babylon.