John McNamara: Remembering the Slain Capital Gazette Sports Writer

John McNamara, a extensively regarded and revered veteran reporter at The Capital Gazette newspaper and editor of different native papers, was amongst the 5 folks killed Thursday (Jun. 28) when a gunman opened fireplace in the paper’s newsroom. Born and raised in Maryland, John McNamara, who glided by the nickname “Mac,” graduated from the College of Maryland, Faculty Park, in 1983, and spent the subsequent few a long time of his life in journalism, contributing to native newspapers with a selected focus in sports activities reporting. A former colleague of McNamara described him as an old-school reporter. “Positively a pen and paper man,” stated David Elfin, who co-wrote a ebook on College of Maryland basketball with McNamara. “He didn’t put on a fedora, however perhaps he ought to have.” On social media, McNamara was an advocate for gun management and recurrently spoke out towards President Donald Trump. He was remembered for his love of sports activities reporting, his wit and his versatility. “At a small paper like that, it’s important to be versatile,” former Capital Gazette editor Gerry Jackson stated. “He might write. He might edit. He might design pages. He was only a jack of all trades and a unbelievable particular person.” A profile on McNamara in the Baltimore Solar described how he switched from a replica editor to a sports activities reporter, which was his dream job. In response to the Solar, he was “remembered by his colleagues for his flexibility, concise writing and intensive information of regional sports activities. He had a razor wit.” McNamara loved enjoying sports activities as a lot as he loved writing about them, Jackson stated. He was part of a bunch who performed basketball on Thursdays at the Annapolis Recreation Middle. “He had this sneaky left-handed shot,” stated Jackson, now an editor at The Baltimore Solar. Reporter Claudia Rosenbaum wrote on Twitter: “I labored with John McNamara at a small native Maryland paper after I was beginning out. He was the sports activities editor. I keep in mind chatting with him about changing into a sports activities author, despite the fact that I had no information or curiosity in sports activities. Regardless of all that, he nonetheless inspired me. Very unhappy.” One other wrote, “John McNamara was the true essence of journalism—unbiased, strictly to tell the public sort of storyteller. He was a extremely good man. That is devastating. Prayers to his household, pals and family members. But it surely looks like prayers are simply not sufficient.” Marc Carig, Senior MLB author for subscription-based sports activities web site The Athletic, stated, “John McNamara is certainly one of the kindest folks I’ve met on this biz. We’ve been pals since I used to be a younger journalist masking Terps basketball. I had no concept what I used to be doing. He confirmed me the ropes. Please maintain John and the different #CapitalGazette victims in your ideas tonight.” He added, “John McNamara is certainly one of the greatest folks I’ve met in journalism. He was an ideal pal. I’m heartbroken. My ideas are together with his household and the remainder of the victims of his horrible tragedy in Annapolis … Simply so f***ing mindless. Doing our half to recollect John McNamara. His identify was synonymous with Terps sports activities protection. Three years in the past, John additionally wrote an article on Annapolis’ personal @davejsports. Dave shared his recollections with our viewers tonight on @NBC4Sports pic.twitter.com/aPCIzO9MtY — Heather McDonough (@HeatherMcD4) June 29, 2018 McNamara mentioned present occasions on Fb, writing not too long ago, “To anybody studying this: I can not urge you strongly sufficient to see the two documentaries now out that includes Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Mr. Rogers. Seeing these two movies will do you some critical good. Each are marvelous and transferring. And, in these troubled instances, when the forces of darkness appear to have gained the higher hand, it’s good to be reminded that there’s nonetheless justice and kindness in the world. You’ll be able to thank me later…” A publish on June 19th, 2018 learn: “Are we not all God’s youngsters?” Earlier this month, on June 4th, 2018, he quoted Theodore Roosevelt, writing: “No man is above the legislation and no man is beneath it: nor can we ask any man’s permission after we ask him to obey it.” He additionally quoted Robert F. Kennedy in a 2017 publish, writing, “What we want in the United States shouldn’t be division; what we want in the United States shouldn’t be hatred; what we want in the United States shouldn’t be violence and lawlessness, however is love, and knowledge, and compassion towards each other, and a sense of justice towards those that nonetheless undergo inside our nation, whether or not they be white or whether or not they be black.” On some posts, he would get political. “Trump’s subsequent transfer in his quest to erase Obama’s legacy: Declaring Hawaii’s not a state,” he shared on Could eighth, 2018. And generally he would write about his life as a journalist. One publish from March 2018 learn, “Writing for a newspaper is like having a paper due on daily basis of your life.” His final publish on Fb, written on Tuesday morning (Jun. 26), quoted an African proverb that states “The place there is no such thing as a disgrace, there is no such thing as a honor.” In response to his biography on The Capital Gazette’s web site, McNamara—who edited the Bowie Blade-Information and the Crofton-West County Gazette—”labored in numerous capacities” for the newspaper “for greater than 20 years.” His LinkedIn web page stated he was a sports activities author for The Capital Gazette. Along with sportswriting and reporting, McNamara additionally authored a number of books about Maryland sports activities, particularly Maryland basketball and soccer. The books are on the market on Amazon. In response to his Fb web page, he was engaged on his third ebook at the time of his demise. John McNamara was 56 years outdated. http://feeds.gossiponthis.com/~r/gossiponthis/~3/2EDxEHLAd-g/ The post John McNamara: Remembering the Slain Capital Gazette Sports Writer appeared first on My style by Kartia.