Sandy Hume
| Sandy Hume | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Alexander Britton Hume, Jr. September 2, 1969 Washington D.C. |
| Died |
February 22, 1998 (aged 28) Arlington, Virginia |
| Alma mater | Middlebury College |
| Occupation | Journalist for The Hill |
| Notable credit(s) | The aborted 1997 coup by Rep. Bill Paxon against House Speaker Newt Gingrich |
| Family | Brit Hume, Clare Jacobs Stoner, Rhoda Kim Schiller Hume (step-mother), Virginia Hume (sister) |
Alexander Britton "Sandy" Hume Jr. (September 2, 1969 – February 22, 1998) was an American journalist. Hume worked for The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C. He was the son of Brit Hume, then Fox News Channel's managing editor, and Clare Jacobs Stoner.
Career
Hume broke the story of the aborted 1997 coup by Rep. Bill Paxon against Speaker Newt Gingrich. Another of the plotters, Majority Leader Dick Armey, scuttled the coup when he learned that Paxon, and not he, would replace Gingrich. Armey later disavowed the whole attempt and claimed not to have been involved.
Death
Hume committed suicide in his apartment in Arlington, Virginia. In the months before his death, Hume, an alcoholic, had begun drinking again. The night before his suicide, Hume was jailed for drunk driving and tried to hang himself in the U.S. Park Police jail cell. He was evaluated at a psychiatric facility and released. He went home and took his life with a hunting rifle. He left a long note expressing shame at the previous night's events.[1][2]
Sandy Hume Memorial Award
The National Press Club honors Hume's memory with the Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism, awarded annually.[3]
Notes
- ↑ Tapper, Jake (March 13–19, 1998). "Suicide Watch". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2008-12-31. (Vol. 18, #11)
- ↑ Kurtz, Howard (April 19, 2006). "Moving to the Right: Brit Hume's Path Took Him From Liberal Outsider to The Low-Key Voice of Conservatism on Fox News". Washington Post. p. C01. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
- ↑ National Press Club. "National Press Club Journalism Awards". Retrieved 2015-07-05.
This award honors excellence and objectivity in political coverage by reporters 34 years old or younger. It is named in memory of Sandy Hume, the reporter for The Hill who broke the story of the aborted 1997 coup against House Speaker Newt Gingrich.