Rob Hiaasen (February 9, 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 in 1959 and raised in Plantation, Florida, then a rural suburb of Fort Lauderdale. He had an older brother, the novelist 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 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] A novel, "Float Plan," was published posthumously in September 2018, with proceeds donated to Everytown for Gun Safety.^[12]

Hiaasen joined The Capital in 2010 as a Sunday columnist and assistant editor^[2] and also worked as an adjunct professor at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism.^[13]

Personal life and death

In June 1985, Hiaasen married Maria Hiaasen (née Mills),^[6] a former journalist and English teacher. Together, they had three children.^[2] His older brother, Carl Hiaasen, is an author and journalist, known for writing and publishing Hoot. Rob Hiaasen was a resident of Timonium, Maryland.^[10]

On June 28, 2018, Hiaasen was one of five people who were shot and killed during the Capital Gazette shooting. It was his wife's birthday.^[14]

Awards

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

Selected works

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