COLEBROOK – William Haskell, of Pondwood Farm, passed away recently at age 89 at his home with his loved ones at his side.
William was born and raised in Bradford, Pa., and Stamford. He attended The Kent School (Kent, Conn.) and Mercersburg Academy (Pa.). He earned his B.A. at Yale and his M.S. at the Columbia University School of Journalism. William took a leave of absence from Yale to serve three years with the Green Berets (77th Special Forces), U.S. Army Airborne.
William was a man of letters and loved reading, mostly nonfiction (he devoured The New York Times every single day and would regularly consult the Encyclopedia Brittanica). He loved words and writing and spent the majority of his journalism career writing for the Torrington Register, where he covered court proceedings and produced a popular weekly column Hill Country letter. Working at the Register allowed him to maintain a bucolic lifestyle at his large property, Pondwood Farm, in North Colebrook.
Before working at the Register, he worked for newspapers from New Zealand to Nantucket, with stints in broadcast news at WTIC in Hartford and in Manhattan for news units of CBS, NBC, ABC. He preferred print journalism and one of his favorite assignments was for Science magazine, who deployed him to Antarctica to cover a story.
His favorite pastime after retirement was cutting firewood and sitting on the terrace overlooking the pond where he could observe nature unfolding before his keen eyes.
William was a fan of wildlife and nature, and especially a fan of crows and ravens that he raised and cared for. He also enjoyed riding motorcycles, hunting, and traveling the world.
William Haskell is survived by his loving partner, Marcia Evans, and his loving children, Anne and Ben Haskell, Ben’s wife Jill, and his four grandchildren Kate, Morgan, Adam and Laura.
A memorial service will be June 24 at the Church in the Wildwood, North Colebrook. Contact cowhaskies@gmail.com for information.
Donations are gratefully accepted at the nonprofit Aton Forest Inc., P.O. Box 509, Norfolk, CT 06098.