John Van Gieson, Florida newsman credited with bestowing famous nickname, dies at 84

TALLAHASSEE – John C. Van Gieson, a journalist whose career covering Florida politics and the state Capitol spanned the 1970s into the 1990s, has died at age 84.

As a reporter for Associated Press, Van Gieson is credited with coining the name “Walkin’ Lawton,” for the then little-known state senator Lawton Chiles, who enhanced his profile with voters and sealed a place in Florida political lore with a 91-day walk along the state’s backroads and highways on his way to winning the U.S. Senate race in 1970.

Van Gieson went on to cover Chiles during the senator’s return to Tallahassee as governor.

“He taught me most of what I learned about covering a beat,” said David Powell, a retired Tallahassee lawyer, author and former AP newsman with Van Gieson, who was among scores of colleagues and friends who posted remembrances on Facebook.

“He made me better than I would have been otherwise,” Powell added, pointing out that “despite his soft-spoken manner, John was a fierce competitor.”

Van Gieson died Wednesday at the Tallahassee home he shared with his wife, Donna Blanton, a retired lawyer and former Orlando Sentinel reporter and bureau chief.

Van Gieson covered the wranglings at the Florida Capitol and the state’s vibrant political landscape during an era when well-financed and large-staffed newspapers and wire services battled fiercely over every scrap of news.

Van Gieson was considered by his rivals to be among the best. But to colleagues in the Capitol Press Corps, he also was a friend — thoughtful and willing to share insights and sarcasm about the politicians pursued.

“When I first arrived in Tallahassee in 1980, I felt a bit overwhelmed,” wrote Brian Crowley, a bureau chief for the Palm Beach Post during Van Gieson’s years covering government.

“I was so fortunate to meet John shortly after my arrival. We may have been competitors, but few were as kind and helpful. John was a terrific reporter and a good soul.”

Van Gieson made his mark in journalism in Florida's capital

Van Gieson was born in New York City and graduated from Morristown High School in New Jersey. He later served in the U.S. Air Force before going on to a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Michigan State University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Coming to Florida, Van Gieson worked for the Miami Herald in Palm Beach County and in Tallahassee, for AP in Miami and in the state Capital Bureau. Later, he joined the Orlando Sentinel as Tallahassee bureau chief, then served as state editor, metro editor and Op-Ed editor.

He returned to Tallahassee in 1986, first as a business reporter but later again as bureau chief. Leaving journalism in the early 1990s, he worked as press secretary to Education Commissioner Doug Jamerson and for the Save Our Everglades proposed constitutional amendment campaign.

Following that, he launched his own media relations company and worked with lobbyists on a host of issues pending before the Legislature, governor and the Cabinet. He retired in the late 2000s.

Van Gieson became active in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Florida State University, serving a term as president. He also was pivotal in the Knight Creative Communities Institute and in programs at the Tallahassee Senior Center and with Sustainable Tallahassee.

He also traveled across the globe. One of his last major trips was a three-week visit last year to Iceland.

Coined name 'Walkin' Lawton' for the late Gov. Chiles

Van Gieson’s “Walkin’ Lawton” moniker is cited in the 2012 book of the same name by author John Dos Passos Coggin, who recalled it being bestowed in the AP story written after Chiles passed through the Panhandle hamlet of Ponce de Leon.

Twenty-one years later, as a Capitol reporter, Van Gieson was still able to put his mark on Chiles by writing a song for the Capitol Press Skits, the journalism scholarship fund-raising show formerly put on each year by reporters lampooning Florida politicians and events.

The movie "The Addams Family" was in theaters in 1991. And by then, Chiles was in his first year at the Governor’s Mansion on Tallahassee’s Adams Street.

A skilled reporter turned songsmith, Van Gieson wrote the tune, “The Adams Street Family,” poking fun at the goings-on of Florida’s First Family.

Survivors include his wife of 33 years, Donna E. Blanton; two sons, John Seth Van Gieson (Erin) of Portland, Ore. and Lee Blanton Ziffer (Thalia) of New Orleans; eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. John was predeceased by a son, Eric Van Gieson, and a daughter, Erin Howard (Paul).

A celebration of his life is planned for Jan. 15 at 2 p.m. at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home on Timberlane Road in Tallahassee.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: John Van Gieson dies, covered Florida Capitol, politics for decades