Complex sentence: He gained his nickname as a boy after helping a neighbor track down two missing fishing rods: the neighbor dubbed him "Hawkshaw" after the title character in the comic strip, "Hawkshaw the Detective".
Split into simpler sentences: He gained his nickname as a boy after helping a neighbor track down two missing fishing rods. The neighbor dubbed him "Hawkshaw" after the title character in the comic strip, "Hawkshaw the Detective".