Stewart Grodman, 1955-2025, 1983 New York State Open Champion        
by Rob Dinerman

Dateline April 11, 2025 --- DSR is sad to report that Stewart "Stew" Grodman, 69, the winner of the 1983 New York State Open and for years a top-20 player on the World Pro Squash Association (WPSA) pro hardball tour, died this past Tuesday morning, just weeks after being diagnosed with mast cell leukemia, an especially lethal form of the disease. He leaves behind his wife Katherine and two young-adult children, Kyra and Zach.

Although Grodman had never played squash prior to entering Stony Brook University on Long Island in Autumn 1973, he gradually progressed up the ladder to the No. 1 position and then joined the Uptown Racquet Club teaching-pro stable shortly after his graduation. This occurred just at a time when Uptown was at the forefront of a proliferation of commercial squash clubs throughout the northeast, which in turn triggered a massive expansion of the sport throughout the U.S. He was an active member of the WPSA Tour almost from the moment of its formation during the late 1970’s, playing a full schedule in both singles and doubles well into the mid-1980’s. Despite having to deal with recurring back and shoulder injuries, he spent most his time in the top 25 (occasionally cracking the top 20) by parlaying his nimble footwork, soft touch --- both of which made him especially adept at midcourt volleying exchanges --- and competitive zeal into a number of impressive performances. At one time or another he scored wins over WPSA top-10 players Clive Caldwell, Gordon Anderson, Ned Edwards, Frank Satterthwaite, Todd Binns and Jonathan Foster, and he rarely lost to players ranked below him.

Grodman did exceptionally well in New York’s regional championships, reaching the finals of the 1979 Met A and Boodles Squash World Cup A-1 draws, as well as the finals of the 1980 and 1982 Metropolitan Open and 1981 Met Pro. In each of those latter three events, his final-round opponent was Stu Goldstein, who at the time was in the top four of the WPSA rankings. Grodman’s best triumph during this early-1980’s time frame was his five-game final-round win over Foster in the 1983 New York State Open, in which he conjured up a perfect forehand three-wall nick at match-ball after Foster had closed to 12-14. Grodman also demonstrated his squash versatility by excelling in both softball singles --- he won the Hyder Cup in May 1985 before then representing the U.S. that summer in the quadrennial Maccabiah Games in Israel --- and doubles, in which he and Gul Khan formed a solid team in WPSA play. Especially noteworthy was a five-week stretch from early December 1993 through mid-January 1994 in which Grodman won both the Gold Racquets with Larry Heath and the William White with Neal Vohr.

The pensive mien and introspective nature that Grodman exuded off-court --- reminiscent in some ways of a philosophy professor --- strongly contrasted with the definite edge he displayed in match competition. This characteristic, coupled with his creative and accurate shot-making and ability to form well-conceived game plans, enabled him to conjure up a number of wins over more athletically gifted opponents and made him a formidable assignment for all but the very top WPSA players. The fact that he was voted onto the WPSA Tour Committee several times reflects the degree to which he earned the respect of his peers, and his contributions during the Committee’s meetings resulted in several important improvements to the Tour’s regulations and guidelines.

By midway through the first decade of the 2000’s, Grodman had ended his competitive squash career in order to focus on his family and his business career as a statistical arbitrage trader, a position he held until transitioning into a job with New York’s Department of Transportation a few years ago. In the wake of his passing earlier this week, a number of players have written in, expressing shock and sadness, while also voicing their admiration for his squash achievements and gratitude for the way he had mentored them during the early part of their squash careers. Grodman was a significant figure, both on and off the court, during a substantial era in squash’s evolution, and he will be sorely missed.