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Rob Hiaasen once wrote a description of his ideal work: "I would like to be paid for an occasional amusing remark or simply to introduce myself quickly to work and bring cookies from time to time," he wrote to a colleague. . "Alas, there is no market for these exceptional qualities."
But he was wrong. His ironic writer style and generous leadership of young journalists ensured him roles in several newsrooms, from the Baltimore Sun to the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, where he was one of five staff members slaughtered Thursday. [19659002] Hiaasen, 59, celebrated her 33rd wedding anniversary last week with Maria Hiaasen, a former journalist who teaches English at Dulaney High School. Thursday was his 58th birthday
The couple is married after a tornado court five months after their first date. The Timonium man became known as "Big Rob" during the high school years of their children, Ben, 29, a lawyer in Towson; Samantha, 27, assistant director of Barnes & Noble at Inner Harbor; and Hannah, 26, an artist who works in a home furnishing store in New York, said Maria Hiaasen.
"He was a tall man of 6 feet 5 inches, but he was a giant not only in size but in character," she says. "He was just the best husband."
"He likes words , he likes humor, "she says." He loved journalism, he loved helping these young writers in the Gazette. "
A native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Hiaasen joined The Baltimore Sun as as a screenwriter in 1993. He joined the capital in 2010 and wrote a column on Sunday.
As a writer, he was attracted to eccentric stories, and had a unique way of telling them, with twisted asides and internal and imaginary dialogues.
10 best songs on rain.
"Feel free to disagree," he writes. "Do not hesitate to fool yourself. (Yes, we are grumpy are not you in all this slop?) "
The list included" Fire and Rain ", of course.Hiaasen was known for his love of James Taylor: He was telling a story of almost hyperventilation during an interview with the singer-songwriter
But he also had a serious side, and earlier this year, the Association of Maryland Press, Delaware, District of Columbia awarded him the first place in a column column for a piece about performing only as an adult as Fort Lauderdale Beach to which he spent a happy day of the day. childhood was separated
"Is there a prescription on the naivety of childhood? He went on to detail the "Wade-in" protests organized by the NAACP and, in other cities, the house's incendiary bombs of civil rights activists, lynching and other violence – including he knew nothing while growing up.
"I did not know," he concludes sadly
. his colleagues remembered him as a lanky and endearing storyteller, engaged in both journalism and narrative writing.
"He could be extremely serious about investigative reporting, but he also had a side Tom Marquardt, former publisher and publisher of the Capital Gazette. "He had a special insight into people's lives and their character."
"What Rob really brought to the game, it's his great Writing ability and its sense of humor. "
Marquardt says that Hiaasen was hired to add a human dimension to media coverage.Hiaasen was particularly helpful to less experienced journalists.
"He has been an excellent mentor for younger reporters," he said.] Tina Reed, a former Capital journalist, was one of those journalists
"he was a philosopher and a poet, "said Reed, 33." He was a coach, and he was a mentor. reporters to be better. "
Reed, who is now working at FierceHealthcare, an industry publication, remembers how Hiaasen directed" Saving Melissa ", a narrative series that she wrote in 2013 about a young patient with cancer who became paralyzed and struggled to regain mobility
and had the time to devote herself to such an ambitious project, but Hiaasen encouraged and encouraged it.
"He supported me and pushed me, he just really believed in history, he sent me away several times," she said. "He just kept pushing for the humanity of the story."
It was a sensibility that he brought to his own writing. Even when he wrote with humor, it was with gentleness rather than snark. He told their stories with immense empathy.
He wrote extensively about Kirk Bloodworth, the Eastern Shore man who was wrongfully convicted for the murder of a 9-year-old girl and became the first to die. "Life after the death penalty has been traumatic for Bloodsworth, who will be 40 years old on Halloween," Hiaasen wrote in July 2000. "His seven years of freedom have been riddled with drinking, chess and humiliation, disappointment in love, depression and persistent doubt.
"Will this be my only legacy, he wonders, forever known as the redheaded guy?" 39; East? Shore, who was not a killer of children after all?
"He is far from where he was and who he was: a dead man who was walking
" It's a long way that leads to the house.
loved to prowl Fells Point in search of bizarre stories, such as as a "private hunter" who roamed the waterfront for 19th century artifacts, or the saga of a shipwrecked barge that was finally towed after two unsightly years, only for another disabled boat to find herself mysteriously on a nearby pile. [19659002IswrittenthefacilousfeaturefromtheirinfrastructureintheneighborhoodThehistorywasincurrentlythanksthankstothethatamongresidentsandbusinessmeninsuringthathewasenteredcorrectly
"He was both a heart-loving writer and a jaded journalist", says the former Sun columnist. Susan Reimer, who lives in Annapolis. "He absolutely saw everything, and with a very clear eye."
Friends were surprised that someone who liked to write so much that Hiaasen turned to editing. But it turned out that he had the gift of working with new reporters and attracting them to the profession he loved.
"He was so happy to work with young journalists," said Reimer. He wanted to create a newsroom where everyone was growing up.
"Rob was a great storyteller and he wanted to teach these young people how to tell people's stories," she said. "My impression was that he was very satisfied."
Hiaasen taught a spring news writing course at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. "He was a natural," tweeted Rafael Lorente, Merrill. "The students loved it.Patient.Care.And damn good."
Hiaasen was a Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University. He graduated from the University of Florida and worked at The Palm Beach Post, where the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editor awarded him first place in general writing for a 1992 history of death. of a boy. He also worked in Southern radio stations
. In addition to his wife and three children, Hiaasen leaves behind three older siblings, Carl, the Miami Herald novelist and columnist, Judy and Barb.
Rob Hiaasen proud of his famous brother, his wife said. He once wrote for The Sun in which he spoke and about other famous brothers, including Billy Ripken, Cal's brother.
As deleted Hiassen and without verification wrote: "You can not hit or write your exit from a shadow."
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