Miami

Former Miami Herald Columnist Elected to Hall of Fame

Former Miami Herald reporter and humor columnist Larry Thompson is the sole inductee into the Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2015.

The announcement was made recently by the Florida Press Association.

Thompson was born on a farm in Garrison, Kansas, and grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma. That's where he began a newspaper career that spanned nearly 50 years. He began work for the Herald as a general assignment reporter in 1945.

Over the years, he reported on stories ranging from hurricanes, to secret meetings of the Ku Klux Klan to murder trials. He also began to write humorous accounts of his daily life, which included a wife, three children and numerous pets.

He later wrote three books.

Thompson died in 1973 at age 61 from emphysema. A 270-acre Miami-Dade County park is named after Thompson and his late wife, Penny.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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