Tim Ryan, Former Variety Honolulu Correspondent, Dies at 80
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- Tim Ryan died June 20 in West Seattle, Washington after a long illness at age 80.
- Ryan served as the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's senior entertainment writer from 1984 to 2006, covering local and visiting celebrities and film and TV productions.
- After leaving the newspaper, Ryan became Variety's Hawaii film and television correspondent and also wrote for the Hollywood Reporter, People, Newsweek, and Islands magazine, where he was a contributing editor.
- For Variety, Ryan covered the Maui Film Festival, the Hawaii Film Festival, and the production boom driven by shows including "Lost" and "North Shore" filming in Hawaii.
- Ryan wrote obituaries for Hawaiian music figures including Don Ho's mother, Jerry Byrd, and Del Courtney, as well as "Hawaii Five-O" actor Kam Fong.
- Born in Hollywood, Ryan was the son of Timothy Thomas Ryan, who acted in the 1953 film classic "From Here to Eternity."
- An avid surfer, Ryan moved to Washington in 2013 and is survived by wife Nancy Wilcox of 43 years and daughter Carly; his ashes will be spread at his favorite surf spots.
Why it matters: Ryan was one of the few dedicated correspondents chronicling Hawaii's entertainment industry across both local newspapers and national trade publications during a period that included the "Lost" and "North Shore" production boom. His death marks the loss of a niche trade journalist who bridged Hawaii's local celebrity culture with Hollywood's national outlets for more than two decades.
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