Rob Hiaasen

Rob Hiaasen
Born February 1959
Plantation, Florida, U.S.
Died (aged 59)
Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
Cause of death Homicide by gunshot
Residence Timonium, Maryland
Education University of Florida
Occupation
Employer The Capital
Spouse(s)
Maria Hiaasen
(m. 1985; his death 2018)
Children 3
Relatives Carl Hiaasen (brother)
Awards Knight Journalism Fellow

Rob Hiaasen (c. February 1959[1] – June 28, 2018) was an American journalist and assistant editor at The Capital, a newspaper published in Annapolis, Maryland.[2] He also taught at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism.[3] A native of Plantation, then a rural suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Hiaasen began his career at The Palm Beach Post before joining The Baltimore Sun as a feature writer and where he later wrote a regular column.[4] He was shot and killed at work at The Capital during the Capital Gazette shooting.

Early life and education

Hiaasen was from Fort Lauderdale, Florida,[5] born and raised in Plantation, Florida, then a rural suburb of Fort Lauderdale. He has an older brother, Carl Hiaasen, and two older sisters.[2] He graduated from the University of Florida.[3]

Career

Hiaasen began his journalism career at WPTF in Raleigh, North Carolina, working there from 1984 to 1985.[6] In the 1990s, Hiaasen worked at The Palm Beach Post where he covered local politics.[5] He conducted an award-winning investigation into the case of Dr. David J. Acer, the Jensen Beach dentist who allegedly infected his patients with HIV.[7] Hiaasen also worked at radio stations in the South.[2]

In 1993, he moved to Maryland to become a feature writer at The Baltimore Sun.[8] Hiaasen later became a columnist where he wrote in-depth stories such as one about Roger H. Martin, who took an unusual sabbatical from a career as a university administrator to become a fresh student at St. John's College.[9] Hiaasen also wrote considerably about Kirk Bloodworth, a death row inmate who was the first in the United States to be cleared of wrongdoing through DNA evidence.[2] He was a staff reporter for the Baltimore Sun for 15 years.[10]

He wrote a short fiction story entitled, "Over My Dead Body". It was published in 2006 in Baltimore Noir (Akashic Books), a collection of stories about the city written by several Baltimore Sun journalists including Laura Lippman, who also served as the editor of the book.[11]

Hiaasen joined The Capital in 2010 as a Sunday columnist and assistant editor.[2]

He also worked as an adjunct professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.[12]

Personal life

In June 1985, Hiaasen married Maria Hiaasen (nee Mills),[6] a former journalist and current English teacher at Dulaney High School. Together, they had three children.[2] His older brother, Carl Hiaasen, is an author and journalist. Rob Hiaasen was a resident of Timonium, Maryland.[10]

On June 28, 2018, Hiaasen, age 59, was shot and killed during the Capital Gazette shooting. It was, coincidentally, his wife's birthday.[13]

Awards

Hiaasen was a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford.[2]

Selected works

— (2006). "Over My Dead Body". In Lippman, Laura. Baltimore Noir. Akashic Books. pp. 60–71. ISBN 978-1-936070-19-0.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hiaasen, Rob (February 10, 2018). "Rob Hiaasen: Little did I know". Capital Gazette. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Marbella, Jean (June 28, 2018). "Capital Gazette shooting victim Rob Hiaasen: A joyful stylist, a generous mentor". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Ruane, Michael E. (June 28, 2018). "Rob Hiaasen, remembered as a 'great colleague and a real craftsman'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lippman, Laura (June 29, 2018). "At the Capital Gazette, the Death of a Reporter's Reporter". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  5. 1 2 Ovalle, David (June 28, 2018). "Rob Hiaasen, journalist killed in Maryland newsroom shooting, had deep South Florida ties". Miami Herald. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Cain, Brooke (June 29, 2018). "'Just a great guy': Former colleagues at Raleigh's WPTF recall slain journalist Rob Hiaasen". The News & Observer. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
  7. ↑ Cerabino, Frank (June 28, 2018). "Rob Hiaasen: An exemplary life, a violent death in Annapolis". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  8. ↑ Pignataro, Juliana Rose (June 28, 2018). "Remembering the victims of the Capital Gazette shooting". Newsweek. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ Martin, Roger H. (September 2, 2008). Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again. University of California Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-520-94207-3.
  10. 1 2 Shannon, Joel; Jansen, Bart; James, Mike (June 28, 2018). "Capital Gazette shooting victims: 'Gifted' assistant editor, mother of four, new hire among those dead". USA Today. Retrieved July 2, 2018.
  11. ↑ Bigsby, C. W. E. (October 10, 2013). Viewing America. Cambridge University Press. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-107-04393-0.
  12. ↑ "Rob Hiaasen". Philip Merrill College of Journalism. University of Maryland. November 27, 2017. Retrieved June 30, 2018.
  13. ↑ McFadden, David; Finley, Ben (June 28, 2018). "4 Journalists, Sales Assistant Killed at Maryland Newspaper". NBC4 Washington. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
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