William Haskell of Pondwood Farm in Colebrook, passed away recently at age 89 at his home with his loved ones at his side. William was born and raised in Bradford, Penn., and Stamford, Conn. He attended The Kent School and Mercersburg Academy and earned his B.A. at Yale and 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. Prior to 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 and ABC. He preferred print journalism, and one of his favorite assignments was for Science magazine, which 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 which 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 held on June 24 at the Church in the Wildwood in North Colebrook. Contact cowhaskies@gmail.com for more information. Donations are gratefully accepted at the nonprofit Aton Forest, Inc., PO Box 509, Norfolk, CT 06058.