The Traveler’s Final Journey
Judging from reaction on social media and elsewhere, many folks in Eastern Iowa felt like they lost a friend when they heard the news that Cary J. Hahn had passed away last Friday night at the age of 75.
And in fact, they had…a fixture in their living rooms on Channel 2 for 25 years, usually focused on human interest stories as “The Iowa Traveler”.
I was one of the lucky ones…I knew him personally for some 25 years, and I’m glad to tell you the cheerful fellow you saw on TV was the same one we knew in private.
People will gather in Cedar Rapids today to pay their final respects to someone who left us too soon, too suddenly.
These days, local television newsrooms have a hard time finding people who can tell good stories, whether so-called hard news or features…budgets and salaries being what they are, that likely won’t change any time soon.
One of my friends lamented that in an email this week, fearing that such specialized reporting is lost to history. He’s right, but that’s too bad…because with all the doom and gloom and nastiness out there, we need a proper balance…stories that inspire us, and assure us that things might just work out. And indeed, that was the reason why he left TV 15 years ago…the budget could not handle “just” a feature reporter.
Cary was the recipient of the Jack Shelley Award, the highest honor given in Iowa broadcast journalism. But despite that, I’ve always felt he was underappreciated…more Kuralt than Cronkite…despite the fact that he could pivot to covering “hard news” without missing a beat, and his demeanor as a news anchor was reassuring and factual.
It’s a rare combination, too often lacking today.
Thanks to CJ, we learned just how far a bowling ball could travel along the new I-380 before it was opened to traffic…heard a nun who never lost her other calling, that of hog calling…and stood in his shoes on the wing of a stunt bi-plane in something that would never get past human resources folks today.
We all need balance in our lives. Cary’s stories gave newscasts that balance. We’ll miss that…and I’ll miss his distinctive, infectious laugh that made gatherings fun.
Safe travels, sir…on your final journey.
