James Michael Aaron

James Michael “Mike” Aaron, 79, of Baltimore’s Original Northwood neighborhood, died March 9 at Keswick Multi-Care Center, where he had lived for more than 18 months.

Born January 13, 1947, in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, the only child of Ruth (Batson) and James “Mickie” Aaron, Mike discovered his lifelong passion for journalism while working on his high school newspaper. He graduated from Mt. Vernon High School and earned his degree from the School of Journalism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1969. A veteran journalist who prized accuracy and clarity, he began his career at the Mount Vernon Register-News and The Southern Illinoisan before moving to Maryland. He served as city editor of the Annapolis Evening Capital during the turbulent years of Spiro Agnew and Marvin Mandel, then spent more than two decades as an editor in the Washington Bureau of The Associated Press. He later worked for Maryland’s Patuxent Newspapers, retiring in 2012. Mike was at the news desk for two defining stories: the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan and the crash of an Air Florida plane into the Potomac River on a freezing January night, calmly directing coverage that reached readers around the world.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Mary Maushard; daughters Emily and Judith, both of Baltimore; daughter-in-law Sarah DeSocio; grandson Jamie; and his beloved cats, Tank and Millie.

Mike was a devoted family man, an early “foodie,” a serious student of history, and a lifelong pipe-smoker with a steely sense of right and wrong. He relished a good argument, delivered precise edits, and was known for his newsroom outbursts, pun-filled jokes, and unshakable self-assurance. He met Mary, also a journalist, in a newsroom in 1977; they married in 1979, beginning what he often considered the best story of his life.