Rob Hiaasen, who was killed in a shooting rampage Thursday in Annapolis, Md., was remembered Friday as gregarious, intelligent and a gifted writer by people he used to work with in Raleigh.
Raleigh, N. C. — Rob Hiaasen, who was killed in a shooting rampage Thursday in Annapolis, Md., was remembered Friday as gregarious, intelligent and a gifted writer by people he used to work with in Raleigh.
A gunman with a grudge against the Capital Gazette newspaper methodically blasted his way through the newsroom with a pump-action shotgun after barricading an exit, killing three editors, a reporter and a sales assistant.
Hiaasen, 59, an assistant editor and Sunday columnist at the Capital Gazette since 2010, worked at WPTF-AM, a news/talk radio station in Raleigh in the mid-1980s.
« We’ve had a lot of great journalists come through these doors in 94 years, and Rob Hiaasen was certainly one of them, » WPTF host Mike Raley said.
« He was a very imposing young man when he came here, and he had the personality to go with it, » Raley said the 25-year-old ace reporter from South Florida who stood 6-foot-5.
« He was always sharing and teaching, » Raley said of Hiaasen, who would later teach narrative journalism as a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University and serve as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Maryland.
Tony Riggsbee said he hired Hiaasen to handle in-depth and human interest stories.
« Sometimes he would say, ‘I’ll get it to you later. I said, ‘That’s fine,’ because he was such a good writer, a wonderful writer, » Riggsbee said. « I think that was more his skill than anything else, that he could really flesh things out but keep it concise at the same time. »
« I could remember him saying, very distinctly, ‘Write short. Write short,’ and that’s the way we do it broadcasting, » Raley said.
« I think the best memory I have of him was the fact that he was part of the only newsroom romance I can ever remember in this facility, » Riggsbee said.
During his one year at WPTF, Hiaasen met Maria Mills, who worked at sister radio station WQDR-FM, and fell in love.
« They went to see a movie together, and they hit it off, and they were married less than a year later, » Riggsbee said.
The couple had three adult children and celebrated their 33rd anniversary last week. Maria Hiaasen’s birthday was Thursday.
« He was the ultimate nice guy, just a warm, infectious personality, and that was one of the greatest couples of all time – Rob and Maria, » Riggsbee said.
