@Montana State with writer Carl Hiaasen

BOZEMAN - Novelist and journalist Carl Hiaasen will speak at Montana State University this fall as part of the MSU Library's annual Trout and Salmonid Lecture Series.

Hiaasen will present "The Loveliest Disease: Angling as a Therapeutic Pastime" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10, in the Strand Union Building Ballrooms. A reception will follow. The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, and registering ahead of time is advised. Register online at montana.edu/calendar/events/49871 or by calling 406-994-6857.

Hiaasen began his career as a journalist and wrote novels in his spare time. To date, he has written or co-written 20 novels for adults (including one forthcoming in 2025), seven books for young readers, six nonfiction books and several short stories.

Before his visit, Hiaasen spoke with MSU News about his relationship to fly-fishing, his approach to writing and the advice he has for writers and anglers.

MSU News: How did you first become interested in fly-fishing? What are some of your earliest, most resonant memories of being out with a fly rod?

Hiaasen: I started fly-fishing for bass and bluegill in the canals when I was a kid growing up in South Florida. Then, as a teenager, I got addicted to bonefish and tarpon in the Keys.

What is your relationship to Montana and to fly-fishing here? Have you had a particularly memorable outing you'd like to share?

My first trip to Montana was in the early 1980s. I'd never been trout fishing, or even visited the Rockies. The beauty of the whole experience was overwhelming, and very different from any kind of fly-fishing in Florida. After that I've been coming back to Montana almost every summer.

You started your career as a journalist in the late 1970s, working as a newspaper reporter in your home state of Florida while writing novels on the side. What drew you to journalism and storytelling in the first place? And what overlap do you see between writing journalism and writing fiction?

Lots of novelists I know began their writing careers in a newsroom. As a reporter, you learn so many tools that are important for writing books, starting with the discipline of meeting deadlines. You also learn how to pace a story and how to self-edit.

Many of your novels for adults are humorous crime thrillers taking place in Florida, featuring themes of environmentalism and political corruption. What led you to focus on these themes?

I grew up watching the wild places that I loved getting bulldozed and paved over, a process expedited by greed and corruption. It pissed me off when I was young, and it pisses me off now. The sharpest satire often comes from an inner well of anger and outrage, and I've never had a shortage of either emotion.

You have written or co-written 20 novels for adults, including one forthcoming in 2025, but you have also written novels for young readers, including "Hoot," which won the Newbery medal in 2003. How is your approach to writing different when writing for young audiences?

The narrative tone of my books for younger readers is pretty much the same as for the grownup novels. The main difference is that the main characters are kids, of course, and they don't come with the life baggage that adult characters do. As a result, they're not as cynical and battle-scarred, which is a fun change of pace for me.

On a related note, having written so many books over so many years, how has your approach to writing evolved over the course of your career?

Not much. Novels are hard work. You start with a blank screen and fill it with 400 pages that come out of your brain. And, some days, your brain isn't in the mood.

How has education influenced the course of your life?

Obviously, the journalism program at the University of Florida had a major impact. I was originally a broadcast major, of all things, but a very wise professor quickly steered me to print journalism and newspapers. I would have been miserable as a TV reporter, and probably never started writing novels in my spare time.

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

It's shopworn advice, but the best thing that serious aspiring writers can do is keep writing, no matter how many rejection slips you get. And don't try to imitate other writers. Craft your own style, and stick to it.

What advice would you give to an aspiring angler?

If you want a long happy life, don't crowd other fishermen. That's true whether you're on a river in Montana or a bonefish flat in Belize.

What are three books you recommend, and why?

"Car"by Harry Crews.
"92 in the Shade"by Thomas McGuane.
"The Last Good Kiss"by James Crumley.

All three books are short, brilliant and darkly funny.