Michael Hastings is being remembered in the media community as a fearless journalist for his coverage in Afghanistan and other important stories. He died on Tuesday at age 33.
Hastings died in Los Angeles in a car crash, Rolling Stone confirmed. He was a contributing writer at the magazine and Buzzfeed and his best known work is “The Runaway General,” his 2010 profile on General Stanley McChrystal. The piece, which revealed that McChrystal would openly criticize President Obama and other civilian commanders, lead to McChrystal’s resignation and his recall to Washington. That piece later resulted in his 2010 book, The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan.
In a tribute to Hastings, BuzzFeed wrote that Hastings roots as a journalist came from writers like Hunter S. Thompson and he showed a fearlessness throughout his work. His first book was I Lost My Love in Baghdad, covering his experiences covering Iraq for Newsweek. The title refers to the death of his fiance in Baghdad in 2007.
Rolling Stone said that Hastings left behind an amazing body of work at the magazine. He’s the one who interviewed Julian Assange in January 2012 and then exposed the U.S.’ use of drones.
"Great reporters exude a certain kind of electricity...the sense that there are stories burning inside them, and that there's no higher calling or greater way to live life than to be always relentlessly trying to find and tell those stories,” Rolling Stone managing editor Will Dana said in a statement. “I'm sad that I'll never get to publish all the great stories that he was going to write, and sad that he won't be stopping by my office for any more short visits which would stretch for two or three completely engrossing hours. He will be missed.”
Hastings is survived by his wife, writer Elise Jordan.