Robert J. Hellman, Intelligence Analyst Editor And Author, 62

[DGH]

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Robert J. Hellman Intelligence Analyst, Editor

Robert J. Hellman, 62, an intelligence analyst who also edited a BMW
motorcycle magazine for 20 years, died of heart disease March 9 [2008]
at his home in Tracys Landing [Maryland].

Mr. Hellman worked most of his life as a contract analyst for U.S.
government entities, including military and intelligence agencies. He
spent much of his time in Germany and was once cited, his family said,
by former secretary of defense Caspar Weinberger for predicting the
collapse of the Berlin Wall. He also worked in Grenada and Bosnia.

In addition to his work for the government, Mr. Hellman wrote several
books, including "Berlin -- The Red Room & White Beer: The 'Free'
Hegelian radicals in the 1840s" (1990) and "A History Update of the
U.S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratories, Fort Belvoir, Virginia,
1984-1988" (1994). He contributed to "On the Trail of the Ice
Age" (1976) by Henry S. Reuss, former congressman from Wisconsin.

Mr. Hellman was the editor of the BMW Riders Association magazine On
The Level until last year. He also wrote freelance articles for the
Washington Dossier magazine, the Washington Times and motorcycle
magazines.

He was born in North Lake, Wisconsin, and graduated from Marquette
University in Milwaukee [Wisconsin]. He was an exchange student in
East Germany, and the secret police kept a file on him. He received a
master's degree in history in 1969 and a doctorate in history in 1976,
both from Columbia University in New York [New York].

His doctoral review board included historian of ideas Jacques Barzun,
former presidential national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski and
historian Fritz Stern, but Mr. Hellman was most proud of a letter he
received in 1970 from German philosopher Martin Heidegger, in which
Heidegger pointed out two flaws in Mr. Hellman's interpretation of his
teachings.

He was a member of the National Military Intelligence Association and
the Association for Intelligence Officers.

He enjoyed crewing, iceboating, ice-skating, windsurfing, scuba diving
and gardening.

Survivors include his companion of 19 years, Mary Lee Kingsley of
Bethesda [Maryland]; a daughter from a previous relationship, Alice
Sturm of Washington [DC]; his mother, Margaret Hellman of Milwaukee;
and a brother.

-- Patricia Sullivan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032001783_3.html