The average person speaks about 140 to 180 words a minute. Stuart S. Huseby, a retired operator of an Atlanta court reporter and stenographer's firm in metro Atlanta, pecked out about 260 a minute while listening to four people.
Local attorneys often called on Stuart S. Huseby & Associates to cover trials, some multi-jurisdictional, or to record depositions. His chosen professional was a true family affair. Steve and Scott, his sons, followed in his footsteps as certified short-hand reporters. They've expanded the firm's reach and collaborate on projects.
Scott A. Huseby oversees the daily operations of Huseby Inc., based in Charlotte, N.C., with many branches in the Southeast, nationwide and globally. Steve Huseby, the other son, operates as vice president and is a certified court reporter who works out of Atlanta. Much thanks goes to the elder Huseby.
"My brother and I have taken it to the next level because the technology is so much better and the instant transcripts are easier to do," said Mr. Steve S. Huseby of Roswell. "But I credit everything to my dad."
Stuart S. Huseby, of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and Braselton, died Friday of a suspected seizure while asleep. He was 71. A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Marietta's Lutheran Church of the Resurrection. Little & Davenport Funeral Home of Gainesville is in charge of arrangements.
The Huseby clan's roots in court reporting run deep. Mr. Huseby's mother, the late Genevive Palson Huseby, earned a degree in the field. An uncle, Orin Paulson was a court reporter, and his brother, Sydney, is a practicing state court reporter in Montana. Steve and Scott, the elder Huseby's sons, married court reporters that they met while studying at Atlanta's Brown College of Court Reporting.
"School was 95 percent female so our attendance was pretty good," quipped Steve Huseby.
A Minnesota native, the elder Huseby spent 36 years in the court reporting business, first in Tennessee. In 1969, he moved to Atlanta, became a principal of Brown & Huseby and, eventually, split and formed Huseby & Associates. He retired in 2000 and sold the business to his sons.
"We've grown from a mom-and-pop operation to the point we have [independent contractors] in the Carolinas, Houston, Austin, even El Paso," Scott A. Huseby said. "It's a great way to make a great living."
Mr. Huseby was a certified diplomat reporter, the highest certification the National Court Reporters Foundation gives. In a recent trade-journal story about the family business, he said, "The most rewarding part is seeing my two sons achieve so much in the reporting profession and, thus, their personal lives."
Additional survivors include his wife of 12 years, Virginia Huseby of Braselton and Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; a step-daughter, Kim Colluro of Braselton; two brothers, Tom Huseby of Sarasota and Sydney Huseby of Great Falls, Mont.; a sister, Jennifer Hamm of Columbus, Ohio; and seven grandchildren.
