William Montalbano

Background

William Montalbano was born on September 20, 1940, in New York City, New York, United States, into the family of Vincent Francis and Gertrude Mary (Reilly) Montalbano.

Education

William D. Montalbano received his Bachelor of Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey in 1960. In 1962 William got a Master of Science at Columbia University in New York.

Career

Montalbano’s entire career was dedicated to writing. He began as a reporter in Newark, New Jersey, in 1960 and worked for a number of press outlets including the Buenos Aires Herald, the Quincy, Massachusetts Patriot Leger, and the Miami Herald, where he worked as a correspondent in Latin America from 1967 to 1976. After a stint as bureau chief for Knight-Ridder Newspapers in Beijing, People’s Republic of China, from 1979 to 1981, he joined the Los Angeles Times as the San Salvador, El Salvador bureau chief in 1983 and later served as bureau chief in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Rome, Italy, and London, England for the newspaper.

His various assignments led him to crisscross the globe covering wars, popes, and a variety of feature stories. Although newspapers were his main interest, in later years he made forays into the book world, co-writing three crime novels with Carl Hiaasen, a fellow Miami Herald staffer. Their books included Powder Burn, Trap Line, and A Death in China. Montalbano also wrote two books alone. The Sinners of San Ramon and Basilica. Montalbano died on his way to his London newspaper office. Montalbano passed away after a heart attack shortly before Basilica was published.

Achievements

• William Montalbano was one of the nation's most distinguished foreign correspondents. He was greatly notable for being a chief for the 'Los Angeles Times' for eight years, and its London bureau chief for three years. Montalbano, the winner of a dozen national reporting awards, was also the author or co-author of four marvellous novels. His writing earned him scores of awards, including the Heywood Broun prize, the Ernie Pyle Award, and the Sigma Delta Chi Award. His coverage of Princess Diana’s 1997 death led the Los Angeles Times to nominate him for a Pulitzer Prize, one of the few major awards he had not won.

Works

More photos

• book

  • A Death in China

    (Art history professor Tom Stratton hasn’t seen his former...)

    2010
  • Trap Line

    (Though he is one of Key West’s most skilled fishing capta...)

    1998
  • Powder Burn

    (Chris Meadows’s charmed life as an up-and-coming architec...)

    1993
  • Basilica

    (When a priest is fatally pushed down the stairs of St. Pe...)

    1998
  • The Sinners of San Ramon 2989

Personality

As his stories demonstrated, Montalbano had a way with words and a way with people, talents that combined to provide readers with distinctive reporting that stirred emotions and informed minds. Known for his clever turn of phrase and ability to write quickly and accurately, Montalbano was a well-respected reporter with the sharp skills needed to make a mundane story interesting. Montalbano was a rumpled, larger-than-life man with a gruff manner, whom colleagues remembered more as a sensitive, caring friend who took pride in mentoring younger reporters and arranging papal blessings for children.

Physical Characteristics: Montalbano once described himself on a resume as "bearded, balding, nearsighted and rotund."

Quotes from others about the person

• Bill Montalbano was one of the most gifted foreign correspondents of our generation. Bill had a keen eye for a story, and he found them all over Latin America, China and Europe. He wrote with a distinct style and great verve. And he believed that journalism was both very serious - essential for our democracy - and a lot of fun." - Michael Parks, Times editor and senior vice president
  
  "Bill was a correspondent of enormous talents who approached his work with zest and fun, with a sense of discovery and adventure, but also with great care for accuracy, fairness and language. His stories made distant events and issues real and immediate. His very distinctive voice was eloquent and compassionate; it lent grace, class and sophistication to the pages of The Times." - Simon K.C. Li, The Times' foreign editor

Connections

William D. Montalbano married Kathleen Feeney on June 19, 1965, but their marriage broke up in July 1977. On December 3, 1977, he married a writer Rosanna Mary Bell Thomson. William D. Montalbano had two children from his first marriage - Dennis and Andrea; and three children from the second one - Tiva, Teresa, and Daniel.

Father:

Vincent Francis Montalbano

Mother:

Gertrude Mary (Reilly) Montalbano

Spouse:

Rosanna Mary Bell Thomson

ex-spouse:

Kathleen Feeney

Son:

Dennis Montalbano

Daughter:

Andrea Montalbano

Daughter:

Tiva Montalbano

Daughter:

Teresa Montalbano

Son:

Daniel Montalbano