Fallen scribe praised by fellow peers
John McNamara was one of the five people who were shot to death Thursday inside the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md.
He was 56. McNamara was a longtime sports reporter at the Capital Gazette, and until his death had covered news as an editor and reporter at the Bowie Blade-News
and the CroftonWest County
Gazette. He also wrote features and community news.
During his sports reporting tenure, McNamara was the University of Maryland football and men’s basketball beat writer. He covered Maryland’s 2002 national championship in men’s basketball under Gary Williams.
The journalism world reacted to McNamara’s death Thursday and Friday.
David Simon, a former Baltimore Sun crime reporter and creator/executive producer of HBO’s The Wire. “A second friend murdered in the Annapolis Capital newsroom. John McNamara was a careful, committed and lifelong journalist who first honed his craft as a sports reporter on the University of Maryland Diamondback, where I had the pleasure of working with him.”
The Athletic’s Marc Carig: “John McNamara is one of the kindest people I’ve met in this biz. We’ve been friends since I was a young journalist covering Terps basketball. I had no idea what I was doing. He showed me the ropes. Please keep John and the other #CapitalGazette victims in your thoughts tonight.”
Washington Post sports columnist Barry Svrluga: “John McNamara, who was killed today [Thursday] in the Annapolis shooting, was one of the first five people I met in DC sports media. Relentlessly kind from Day One. Incredibly understated. So humble. Loved his job. This is heartbreaking.”
San Francisco Chronicle sports reporter Connor Letourneau, who graduated from Maryland: “This is devastating. John McNamara is the definition of a classy vet who took me under his wing in my @ DBKSports [The Diamondback, Maryland’s independent student newspaper] days.”
Former Capital Gazette sports editor Gerry Jackson, who hired McNamara: “At a small paper like that, you have to be versatile. He could write. He could edit. He could design pages. He was just a jack of all trades and a fantastic person.”
The four others who died in the Capital Gazette newsroom shooting were editorial page editor Gerald Fischman, assistant editor and columnist Rob Hiaasen, special publications editor Wendi Winters and sales assistant Rebecca Smith.
McNamara is survived by his wife Andrea. The couple did not have children.