Not Your Average Joe

Reporting death is the worst part of this job. No matter how many times you do it—and my speedonthewater.com co-publisher Jason Johnson and I have done it a lot—everything about the process is horrible. You need to be timely but you can’t rush anyone involved, especially surviving family members. You need to be factual but you can’t be insensitive.

With the death of chief operating officer Joe Curran, Iconic Marine Group lost a dynamic leader.

And when you knew and were genuinely fond of the person who died, you must cope with your own sadness without losing sight of the work at hand. Your job is to professionally report hard news. Your emotions don’t matter—they only get in the way of what you have to do.

Such was the case late last week when Johnson and I reported the death of Joe Curran, the 55-year-old chief operating officer of Iconic Marine Group, the Washington, N.C.-based parent company of the Baja, Donzi and Fountain powerboat brands.

Earlier in the week, I’d sent Curran a text message about a performance-oriented center console roundup Johnson and I are planning for speedonthewater.com this summer. I was about to bug him about it again last Wednesday when a text from Martin Rusin, the company’s public relations man, appeared on my phone.

Read More: Not Your Average Joe

Related Story: Iconic Marine Group Mourning The Death Of COO Joe Curran