I have been away from Southern California, living in Southeast Asia for the past year and only this week heard of the news of Hal Fishman's passing. I remember hearing him say something in his commentary and then sending him an e-mail about his comment, as to whether I agreed or disagreed. He would always write me back immediately and sometimes he would quote me the next night. He really listened to his viewers. He is missed terribly.

Fishman was one of the few local news anchors who really knew what he was talking about, as opposed to those who just read stuff off the teleprompter. His brief daily editorials were as well thought out as anything in the newspaper, but timelier.

I never lived in LA, but I received KTLA as a superstation on the east coast. While I only watched KTLA occasionally, Hal always seemed like a genuinely nice guy. A classy newsman in a current generation of idiots, shouters, and haters. He’ll be missed.

News anchor Kent Brockman on The Simpsons is also based, in part, on Fishman.

I feel the need to throw in a quick shout out to Hal Fishman as an La-ite. I didn't watch him regularly but i'd tune in occasionally and it was nice knowing he was always out there. There's no doubt he was a part of the LA Landscape and there's a huge gap now that he's gone.

I mean, he hosted the same nightly news cast for 22 years...that's quite an accomplishment especially in the countries second biggest television market.

Plus, on the subject of completely random facts, he actually holds 12 official world aviation records (its true, look it up!)

Anyway, Hal Fishman was a part of LA and if you owned a TV in this town you knew him and its really sad and a bit strange to think that he's now gone.