Philip G. Grose Papers

“His name may not be well known, but his words and phrases are broadly read and widely quoted. His work is evident throughout South Carolina state government, and serves as an inspiration to many of us who currently serve.” (Jim Clyburn May 13, 2004)

Philip Gibbs Grose, Jr., was a journalist, government administrator, speechwriter, public affairs aficionado, and author. Grose devoted his life to writing about and serving the government of South Carolina. Throughout his life, Grose’s words and actions documented South Carolina’s move to become a modern state, but his name and words were hidden behind the guise of a political journalist and government bureaucrat until late in his life when he became a published author. His papers span his time as a government administrator to his later career as biographer of governors Robert McNair and John West.

Grose was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on April 5, 1938, to Philip G. Grose, Sr. and Helen Layne Thompson Grose. Reared in Charlotte, North Carolina, Grose began his journalism career at the age of fourteen by phoning in sports stories from Piedmont Junior High School to the Charlotte Observer. This ignited a lifelong fascination with the written word and its role in daily life, and Grose remained a freelance writer for Charlotte Observer throughout high school. He graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in English, then returned to the Charlotte Observer as a sports journalist, working his way up to heading the newspaper’s bureau in Gastonia. In 1962, an impulse to get away from sports writing and the South led Grose to move to New York City. While in New York, Grose covered the advertising industry for Broadcast Magazine, which provided him the opportunity to meet such notable individuals as David Ogilvy, the author of Confessions of an Advertising Man. Grose moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1963, to join The State and his future wife, then Virginia Maxwell (Ginny), who had transferred to the University of South Carolina. The two later had a daughter, Patricia.

Initially hired as a sports writer at The State, Grose soon became the business editor and later the government affairs editor, a position in which he thrived. This position allowed Grose to attend the 1968 Democratic and Republican national conventions. It was also in 1968 that Governor Robert McNair invited him to join his staff as news secretary and a research assistant, in particular aiding with speeches. McNair’s successor, John C. West, invited Grose to stay on as his Executive Assistant for Public Affairs.

After West left office, Grose was employed briefly as the Executive Assistant to the President of the University of South Carolina and as the Chief Deputy Commissioner of South Carolina’s Department of Social Services, 1975 to 1976. In 1976, he was hired to be the Director of the South Carolina State Reorganization Commission, where he served until 1987. In this position, Grose helped manage and streamline South Carolina government. In the fall of 1987, Grose was appointed Assistant Executive Director of the State Budget and Control Board, where he served until 1989.

Grose’s administrative positions gave him the necessary experience to serve as the director of the Executive Institute, 1989 to 2004. The Institute trained state government executives for increasing responsibility through a series of sessions featuring case studies, readings and lessons about state government. Between 1989 and 2008, the Institute trained over 850 individuals. Even after his retirement in 2004, Grose continued to assist the Institute with special projects, programs, alumni activities and general support. The Institute closed in 2008.

Towards the end of his career as a public administrator, Grose embarked upon a new career as a writer. Throughout the 1990s, he wrote articles on state government and public administration. Later in the 1990s, he and Cole Blease Graham, Jr. began a project to write a biography of former governor McNair. After a disagreement between the two men in 2000, Grose became the sole author of South Carolina on the Brink: Robert McNair and the Politics of Civil Rights, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2006. To help support his research, Grose became a fellow of the Institute for Southern Studies.

Grose’s second book was his 2011 biography, Looking for Utopia: The Life and Times of John C. West. In authoring both of these books, Grose used his background as a journalist, and more importantly, drew upon his experiences in government. Though Grose enjoyed writing, he disliked the publishing process, stating, “I am most comfortable with being the double bass that lays down the rhythm line and causes a piece to hang together well, but almost no one notices. Publishing is being the trombone, spending your time out front.” This sentiment not only reflects Grose’s approach towards writing, but also his attitude towards his continued occupation as a speechwriter and political adviser for politicians and government officials throughout South Carolina, including Governor Richard Riley.

While completing his West biography, Grose began assisting Congressman James Clyburn with a memoir. Grose and Clyburn became friends while working in the West administration. Grose’s death on February 3, 2012, came as a shock to many as he had kept his diagnosis of leukemia quiet. Grose’s life not only reflects a career of public service, but also a lifelong fascination with the written word, having once reflected, “If I accomplish something in the world of writing, I will consider my life a success.”