Grant wasn't a friend, but we had conversations and were in the same small rooms about a million times. The punk scene in the twin cities wasn't exactly huge. And the punk scene in St. Paul was even smaller.
I might have said this before around here, or written it somewhere, but here's a scene that perfectly sums up everything about Grant:
Johnny Thunders and Wayne Kramer from the MC5 had a band for a couple months called Gangwar, and they were doing a show at the 7th St. Entry (a broom closet off the main floor at First Avenue). Hüsker Dü was opening the show, and I was wandering around a couple hours before the doors opened and I went around the back of First Avenue and there was Grant, sitting on a curb, banging on a broken kick drum pedal with a big rock. To "fix" it. I said, "What's up Grant?" and he looked up with a big smile and said, "It's a great day to be alive!"
That's how I'll always remember him.