Details About Carl Hiaasen: Books, Wife, Divorce, Net Worth, Bio

• Carl Hiaasen is an American journalist and novelist
• His 1993 novel "Strip Tease" was adapted into the 1996 crime comedy film "Striptease"
• He retired from the Miami Herald in March 2021
• He has written over 30 books and 20 of them have been featured on the New York Times Best Seller list
• His estimated net worth is over $7 million

Known for movies

Striptease (1996)
as Writer

Hoot (2006)
as Writer

20/20 (2016)
as Himself - Author, Lucky You (segment "The Vultures

60 Minutes (2005-2006)
as Himself - Humorist (segment "Carl Hiaasen")

Who is Carl Hiaasen?

Carl was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on 12 March 1953 – his zodiac sign is Pisces, and he holds American nationality. He’s a journalist and novelist, who’s probably known best for the books which he’s written, especially for his 1993 novel “Strip Tease”, which was adapted into the 1996 crime comedy movie “Striptease”, scripted and directed by Andrew Bergman, starred Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds and Armand Assante, and follows a stripper and single mother whose life becomes complicated after a congressman becomes interested in her; the movie won eight of the 12 awards for which it was nominated.

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Early life and education

Carl was raised in Plantation, Florida alongside his three younger siblings, by their father Odel and mother Patricia Hiaasen; not a lot is known about Carl’s parents because he respects their privacy, but it’s believed that his father was a lawyer, and that his mother was an elementary school teacher. Carl’s brother Rob worked for the daily newspaper “The Sunday Capital” as an editor and columnist; he was killed in a mass shooting on 28 June 2018 at the newspaper’s offices in Annapolis, Maryland.

Carl became interested in writing at a very early age, and was six when his father bought him a typewriter as a Christmas present.

He studied at Plantation High School, and spent the majority of his spare time during those four years reading books. Carl was a lot less interested in sports, but still occasionally played football and basketball with his peers.

He enrolled at Emory University upon matriculating in 1970, and during the two years which he had spent there wrote satirical humor columns for the student newspaper “The Emory Wheel”. Carl transferred to the University of Florida in 1972, and wrote for their daily student newspaper “The Independent Florida Alligator”; he graduated with a degree in journalism in 1974.

Career as a journalist

As soon as he graduated, Carl moved to Cocoa, Florida and began working as a reporter for the TV show “TODAY”.

In 1976, he started working for the popular daily newspaper “Miami Herald”, eventually becoming their columnist in 1985, and holding the position until his retirement in March 2021. many of the columns which Carl has written have been published in three volumes: “Kick Ass” in 1999, “Paradise Screwed” in 2001 and “Dance of the Reptiles” in 2014, all edited by Diane Stevenson.

Books

Carl began writing his first novel when he started working as a reporter – his first three were co-written with American journalist William Montalbano, who was also Carl’s best friend; these were entitled “Powder Burn”, released in 1981, “Trap Line” which came out in the following year, and “A Death in China”, published in 1984.

Carl’s first solo novel was published in 1986, entitled “Tourist Season”, and which follows a group of eco-warriors who have kidnapped the Orange Bowl Queen.

He became popular after his novel “Hoot” was published in 2002, while it was adapted into the 2006 eponymous family adventure comedy movie, scripted and directed by Wil Shriner, starring Logan Lerman, Luke Wilson and Brie Larson, and follows a man who has just moved to Florida with his family, and is fighting to protect an endangered species of owls; the movie won one of the six awards for which it was nominated.

Carl then published the children’s novels “Flush”, “Chomp” and “Skink – No Surrender”, and in 2018 “Squirm”, which peaked at #4 on the “The New York Times” bestseller list.

Most recently, on 25 August 2020, Carl published the adult book “Squeeze Me”, and the magazine “The Washington Post”, as well as Amazon, ranked it amongst the best novels of 2020.

Carl has written more than 30 adult, children’s and non-fiction books, while 20 have found themselves on the Best Seller list compiled by the magazine of “The New York Times”. His books have been translated into 34 languages, while his 2016 novel “Razor Girl” was nominated for a Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Award for Comic Fiction.

Love life and wife

Carl prefers not to share the details of his love life with the public, but it’s still widely known that he has married thrice.

He first exchanged vows with Connie Lyford in 1970, in a small ceremony attended by only the closest of their family members; Carl was only 17 years old when they married, but they’d been together for around two years. Not long after the wedding, Connie gave birth to their son Scott Andrew, but they divorced in 1996 for unknown reasons.

He married his second wife Fenia Clizer in 1999, and she gave birth to their son Quinn Hiaasen; Fenia’s an American restaurant manager, but she and Carl divorced in 2019.

In 2020, Carl married his third wife Kaitlyn Fox, and they are today living at their home in Florida.

As of April 2022, Carl’s married to his third wife Kaitlyn Fox, has a son with his first wife Connie Lyford, and another son with his second wife Fenia Clizer.

Hobbies and other interests

Carl’s main hobby is perhaps fly fishing; he’s competed in various fishing tournaments, and has won the Invitational Fall Fly Bonefish Tournament six times.

Carl’s quite active on Instagram, and is today followed by more than 10,000 people, while he’s uploaded over 150 pictures onto the network, most of which have been taken during his everyday life. He’s also interested in photography, and some of his pictures have been taken by him.

Carl likes to travel, and his career has taken him to various US states, as well as to a couple of European countries; his favorite city to write in seems to be Paris, France.

He’s a huge lover of animals, with cats and monkeys being his favorites.

Carl enjoys watching movies in his spare time – his favorite actor and actress are Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Roberts, while a couple of his favorite films include “Titanic”, “Shutter Island” and “Pretty Woman”.

Age, height and net worth

Carl’s age is 69. He has short grey hair and blue eyes, his height is 5ft 1ins (1.55m) and he weighs around 110lbs (50kgs).

As of April 2022, Carl’s net worth is estimated at more than $7 million.