In his 1993 book, Hale and Dorr Backgrounds &
Styles, John A. Dolan wrote about joining the firm in 1948 and
meeting Frank W. Grinnell. Grinnell maintained an office at Hale
and Dorr despite devoting his time to the Massachusetts Bar
Association, the Judicial Council of Massachusetts and other
organizations.
He was then 75 years of age, an alert, vigorous, distinguished
gentleman with a shaggy handlebar mustache, bushy eyebrows and
rumpled gray hair. He wore an old, dark felt hat, all bent out of
shape. Before going out in colder weather, he wrapped a large, long
colorful scarf around his neck. His was a fast and crisp walk. He
always seemed very busy. For an outdoor hobby, he enjoyed serious
mountain climbing.
He often seemed so absorbed in a particular project of the moment
that nothing else was of any importance to him. Frank often was
deeply caught up in thought, his mind straining and speeding from
one distant point to another, even more remote one.
He was not a neat sort of man nor was his office: books, files,
folders, letters, periodicals, newspapers, notepads, clothes,
pipes, tobacco and boxes of cherished cigars were piled high and
every which way on his desk, table and chairs, and even on the
floor to the four corners of his private world. His desk and table
drawers were always stuffed full. There was a clear understanding
that no item in Frank's office was ever to be moved or removed by
any person. Most of the time, Frank was able to somehow locate in
only a few minutes whatever it was he needed. His filing system
worked well for him. As for his head, there he was surprising; no
clutter there. He read more, wrote more, and he just plain thought
more than most are able to.
I remember Frank in his later years as articulate, knowledgeable,
erudite and always friendly, always willing to take the time for
lawyers and to talk with whomever dropped into his office. He was
gentle and caring and always charming. Frank was strongly
self-confident and definite in style. But he never patronized. Nor
was he ever a braggart. He did not speak of all that he knew, of
all that he had done.