STACY MCCAIN: The Short Career and Sudden Death of Michael Hastings. “Details of the circumstances leading to his death remained elusive. While the journalistic world paid tribute to their late colleague, none offered any explanation of why Hastings, who married a former Bush administration staffer two years ago, would have been driving recklessly through the palm-lined streets of northwest Los Angeles in the wee hours of a Tuesday morning. Hastings had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, but there was no immediate indication from police officials that he was intoxicated at the time of his fiery fatal accident. The Los Angeles Times reported that ‘neither the LAPD nor the coroner’s department could officially identify the body found in the vehicle,’ which was ‘burned beyond recognition.'” Sounds like the beginning to a thriller novel.