Om Malik lives.
His warmth, his humor, his kindness, his curiosity, his incisive questions, his quiet doggedness live on in so many people that he touched in tech and media. More than anyone I know, Om shaped modern tech journalism.
In 2014 and 2015, I had the opportunity to do 3 multi-hour interviews with Om to reflect on his life and his career for a chapter I wrote in the book, Follow the Geeks that I co-authored with Lyndsey Gilpin. I also interviewed people he worked closely with during his career, and oh did they have stories to tell! And of course, so did Om.
I've been so touched by the kind words written over the last few days since Om's passing by John @Gruber, @JoannaStern, @HarryMcCracken, @AnilDash, @LeoLaporte, and so so many others.
The @Om of recent years was legendary, and truly a larger than life figure. But the last few days I've been thinking about how humble he started as a Wall Street wire reporter getting paid pennies and trying to scrap and hustle his way into tech journalism.
No one would hire him.
He once told me, "For three years, it was every day a rejection."
The opening anecdote of my chapter on Om tells the incredible story of how he finally got his big break. So I'm republishing here on X:
For anyone chasing an impossible dream, I don't know how you couldn't be inspired by Om's story. You, too, could be Om Malik.
PDF of the full chapter on Om: https://www.jasonhiner.com/s/om-malik-chapter-6-follow-the-geeks.pdf
http://x.com/i/article/2071032715512586241
