Crane was born in Atlantic City, N.J. in 1926. He received a master's degree from the University of Chicago and his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois.
In 1953, Crane came to MSU where he taught humanities. After G. Robert Vincent retired, Crane took over as the new head of MSU’s Voice Library in 1974, accord to his biography on the MSU Library's website.
The Voice Library is the largest academic voice library in the nation and is home to different sound material such as speeches, interviews, lectures and performances.
With taking on the role of head of the Voice Library, Crane became a source for radio and television producers, broadcasters and scholars.
Crane received the Distinguished Faculty Award, MSU’s highest faculty honor, in 1979. After being named the head of the Voice Library, he stressed the importance of building the library and making it available for the public to use as a research tool.
As head of the Voice Library, Crane allowed the public to utilize the library’s card catalog and he instituted a policy which let the public borrow copies of recordings not under copyright.
“What Dr. Crane did was take a small private collection which was very important, and popularize it, make it accessible, and add to it at an incredible rate,” John Shaw, Crane’s successor and longtime assistant, told the Lansing State Journal.
Aside from serving as head of the Voice Library, Crane was a local television personality.
Crane hosted a show called “Passing Through,” on which he interviewed interesting visitors to campus such as American psychologist and writer Timothy Leary and comedian Dick Gregory.
In 1984, Crane was nominated for a Grammy for his cassette collection of speeches given by Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Crane retired from MSU in 2000, but continued to live in the East Lansing area until his passing. There will be no visitation or funeral for Crane as he chose to donate his body to MSU for research.
