Marty Hintz, a 'prolific storyteller' and mainstay in Milwaukee's Irish American community, dies at 75
Loren Martin “Marty” Hintz was a true Renaissance man, his friends and family said.
He dedicated his life to traveling and writing — learning as much as he could about the world, and sharing the stories with others.
“He was an incredibly expansive human being,” his son Daniel Hintz said, “and just had a zest for life that was really quite infectious.”
Hintz, an author and mainstay in Milwaukee’s Irish American community, died Sept. 20 at age 75.
Daniel Hintz remembers his father, a “prolific storyteller,” was always looking for his next adventure. The publisher of the Irish American Post newspaper, Marty Hintz also wrote more than 125 books, his family says, and was Irish Fest’s first publicist.
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Hintz grew up in the small Iowa farm town of New Hampton and studied journalism at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota and at Northwestern University, then worked at the Milwaukee Sentinel.
He later became a freelance writer, his inquisitive spirit never fading. When the family went out to a restaurant, Hintz would pepper the waitress with questions, his son remembers.
“He was constantly mining for stories, constantly mining for ideas for the next adventure,” Daniel Hintz said.
John Hickey, who helped launch the Irish American Post in the 1990s with Hintz, recalls standing outside Irish Fest, handing out papers as Hintz enthusiastically shouted, “Get your Post!” at passersby.
“What I remember is Marty just being a real news hawk, a newsboy,” Hickey said.
The paper was a “labor of love” for Hintz, Hickey said. He was deeply interested in Irish arts and culture and would often entertain Irish politicians when they came to Wisconsin, his son said.
“He was very connected in that world and it was something he was very passionate about,” Daniel Hintz said.
Hintz was a man of many interests, always dreaming up new projects to tackle. He and his wife, Pam Percy, wrote the Shepherd Express column “Boris and Doris on the Town,” dishing on the attendees of various Milwaukee-area cultural events.
Percy met Hintz when she was a radio producer and Hintz appeared on the show as a spokesman for the Irish community. Hintz wanted a partner to accompany him to plays and movies, and Percy wanted the same — they fell in love instantly.
The two started a farm on their River Hills property, creating a business called Pampered Produce in 2009 to sell vegetables, flowers and eggs and host farm-to-table dinners and girls’ day camps.
“It was a tremendous amount of work but we loved it,” Percy said.
Fueled by his roots as an Iowa farm boy and the couple’s generous spirit and love of hosting friends, Hintz and Percy found ways to “share their bounty,” Daniel Hintz said. During the coronavirus pandemic, the couple donated produce to restaurants working to feed those in need.
“He had an indelible connection to the earth that was really quite beautiful,” Daniel Hintz said. “That was sort of his centering.”
Hintz overflowed with tales of his travels and his latest projects — but his most meaningful, his son believes, was his journey to find his father’s downed plane in Italy.
Loren Hintz, a fighter pilot, died at 27 when his plane crashed in Italy just before the end of World War II. Marty Hintz was born six weeks later.
He endeavored to know the father he never met, undertaking years of research and digs to find the plane.
When he died, Hintz was producing a documentary about his family’s 2017 successful search for the plane. His family is now working to raise money to complete it in his honor.
Hintz’s friends from Italy, Ireland and around the world have been reaching out to his family since his death, recalling his kind nature and love of storytelling. Daniel Hintz said he’s gotten at least 500 messages from those who knew him.
His quiet, humble way of connecting with people helped forge deep bonds with people of all backgrounds and left an “indelible mark on the world,” Daniel Hintz said.
“There was a sense of awe and curiosity,” he said. “That’s what he brought to every conversation and every relationship.”
Hintz is survived by his wife, Pam Percy, his children Daniel (Kassie) Hintz, Steve (Rashauna) Hintz, Katie (Garrick Topp) Hintz; step-children Matthew (Jennifer) Segel, Katie (Matt Liban) Segel, Ross (Abby) Segel; and 19 grandchildren.
Contact Sophie Carson at (414) 223-5512 or scarson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @SCarson_News.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marty Hintz dies at 75: Friends, family recall love of travel, stories
