'He brought history to everybody'

Columnist and historian "Hamp'' Dunn, who noted Florida's oft-overlooked treasures, has died at 85.

By TAMARA LUSH, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 5, 2002

TAMPA -- Hampton "Hamp" Dunn was best known for chronicling Florida's colorful history, but his life's passion was newspapers.

When he was a boy during the Depression, he published a one-page newspaper for his hometown and called it the Floral City Herald. As a reporter and managing editor for the Tampa Daily Times, he had a reputation for being a crusader against crime and political corruption. In his later years, he wrote a history column for the St. Petersburg Times.

Mr. Dunn once said that on his tombstone he wanted only his name, his dates of birth and death, and the number 30, which in the old days of newspapers signaled the end of a story.

Family members say that Mr. Dunn will get his wish.

Mr. Dunn, author of 18 books, died Sunday in a Tampa nursing home after a period of failing health. He was 85.

"He was genuinely interested in people of all sorts," said Mr. Dunn's daughter, Janice Oldroyd. "He has probably done enough in his lifetime to fill three or four lifetimes."

He attended Mercer University, earning money for his studies by reporting on a free-lance basis for the Macon Telegraph & News. He also attended the University of Tampa on scholarship and handled public relations and publicity for the athletic department.

Born in Floral City in Citrus County, Mr. Dunn moved to Tampa when he was a young man.

In 1936, Mr. Dunn, "the greenest of the green cub reporters" went to work at the Tampa Daily Times.

He left the paper during World War II, when he served in the Army Air Forces from 1942 to 1946, serving in England, North Africa and Italy as chief public relations officer for the 12th Air Force Headquarters, Mediterranean Theater of Operation. He received the Bronze Star medal.

Mr. Dunn became managing editor of the Tampa Times in the late 1940s, succeeding the man who hired him, and wrote a political column. His newspaper career was cut short when the Tampa Tribune bought the Tampa Daily Times and, in his words, "fired all the chiefs but kept the Indians."

At 42, Mr. Dunn took up television reporting in Miami and later in Tampa for Channel 13. In 1959, during the Cuban Revolution, Mr. Dunn covered a young Fidel Castro's triumphant march into Havana.

After his TV career, he became a public relations executive for AAA Auto Club. Using the group's member publication as his podium, Mr. Dunn lobbied for safe automobile travel in Florida. In one issue, he fought to keep cattle off Florida highways.

Between journalism and public relations, Mr. Dunn traveled the state. What he saw turned him into a historian.

"I saw a lot of stories traveling the state that no one was telling," he said in 1992.

Nick Wynne, executive director of the Florida Historical Society, said that despite Mr. Dunn's many accomplishments, he was most proud of his love for Florida.

"His brag in life was that he had been to every ZIP code in Florida," said Wynne.

State historians said Mr. Dunn taught thousands of new residents about their state. He served as president of the Florida Historical Society and collected thousands of Florida-themed books, articles and postcards, all of which were donated to the University of South Florida.

"Hampton meant so much for Florida history," said Kathy Turner Thompson, director of museum services for Citrus County. "He was so far reaching in what he did. He brought it down to layperson's terms."

Thompson met the historian seven years ago, when he addressed Citrus leaders who were studying the county's heritage. She said Mr. Dunn seemed just as comfortable in that setting as he did writing or broadcasting about Florida heritage.

"He brought history to everybody," Thompson said.

In 1970, Mr. Dunn received an "award of merit" from the Historical Society. His books included Rediscover Florida, Yesterday's Tampa and Yesterday's St. Petersburg. He especially loved writing about the Tampa Bay area and Citrus County, his birthplace.

"I love Florida," he wrote in the foreword to his first book, "Let's not rush through Florida, hitting only the interstates and seeing only the huge cities or the lovely beaches. Let's pause by the side of the road and look at this antebellum home, or that solid oak fort, or this novel structure or that one. ... There's scarcely a city, town or village in the state that doesn't have a memento of the past, a link that helps us get the feel of our noble forebears and their experiences in building this province."

Mr. Dunn is survived by his wife of 62 years, Charlotte, and his three children. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Idlewild Baptist Church at 1515 West Bearss Avenue, Tampa. Burial is private.

-- Times Staff Writers Craig Basse and Jim Ross contributed to this report.

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