I guess Times editors don't spend a lot of time with the Thursday Calendar Weekend section. Just a month ago, staff writer Hugo Martín wrote about subtly altering his byline to reflect his Latino heritage. In today's staff announcement that he's joining the Outdoors section as the guy who gets to roam around cool places doing fun things, he's back to plain-old, dotted-i Hugo Martin:

To: The Staff
From: Michalene Busico, Deputy Features Editor
Tom Curwen, Outdoors Editor

We're very pleased to announce that Hugo Martin is joining the Outdoors section as a staff writer.

As many of you know, Hugo is a dynamic and versatile reporter whose work is both wide-ranging and first-rate. As a METPRO reporter (Class of > '> 87), he was quick out of the blocks, covering a variety of assignments in the Orange County, South Bay and San Gabriel Valley bureaus. He was hired full-time in 1989 and was soon tackling politics in the San Fernando Valley, where he also contributed to coverage of the Northridge Earthquake, the > '> 92 riots and the North Hollywood shootout.

Not only does Hugo bring to the position a strong news sensibility -- he has covered gang life in the city, transportation issues and most recently, politics in the Inland Empire -- he also has flair for creative storytelling. Hugo memorably profiled the worst intersection in the city for pedestrian deaths in an A-1 story, and his profile of Tookie Williams, founder of the Crips street gang, was the basis of a television movie starring Jamie Foxx.

While most of his assignments have been urban, Hugo is also a rock-climber, backpacker, skier and a trail runner, who can be found on weekends scouting out paths in and around Eaton Canyon. He has also just finished a children's book which will be published this fall. In his new assignment, he will report to Tom Curwen.

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