Tony Zappone (born Anthony N. Zappone on October 9, 1947, in
Tampa, Florida
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
), became at age 16 the youngest credentialed
journalist
A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism.
Roles
Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
to lend press coverage to a major national political convention. He was also the youngest contributor of evidence (his photographs) during the
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...
hearings into the
assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He began his career in journalism at age 14 as a
freelance photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs.
Duties and types of photograp ...
with ''
The Tampa Tribune
''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area.
The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...
'', now the
Tampa Bay Times
The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...
, paid at the rate of three dollars per news photo used.
Photographed JFK days before assassination
He photographed President
John F. Kennedy during his entire five-hour presidential visit to
Tampa
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
just four days before Kennedy's November 22, 1963 assassination in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Nine months later, he presented the slain President's brother,
U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, with pictures he had taken that day which were accepted for public display at the
John F. Kennedy Library in Boston. The presentation took place at Kennedy's
U.S. Justice Department office in
Washington. (Almost 40 years later, the building was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.)
At that time, the
Kennedy presidential library was still in the planning stages so the attorney general said he would ensure the photographs would be held with other exhibits and materials until it was constructed. A selection of his photographs are now on permanent display at the Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston.
Several of the photos Zappone took that day showing the last time
Secret Service agents were posted at the rear of the
presidential limousine were entered as exhibits during The
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President of the United States, President Lyndon B. Johnson through on November 29, 1963, to investigate the A ...
's investigation into the
Kennedy Assassination and are still used today in Secret Service training. According to Secret Service records, Kennedy's Tampa visit was also remarkable in that he was exposed to the public for the second longest period of time of any appearance during his entire Presidency, the longest being his visit to West
Berlin, Germany on June 26, 1963.
A week after the presentation of photos, Zappone was the youngest credentialed photographer to cover the
1964 Democratic National Convention at the original
Atlantic City Convention Center (now
Boardwalk Hall), having been granted an "All Areas" pass. Each evening he would take his film to the main Atlantic City post office and express mail it to newspapers in Tampa. During the convention, he was interviewed before a nationwide television audience by
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
Correspondents
John Chancellor
John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in television news. Chancellor served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to ...
and
Frank McGee. He also caught up with Robert Kennedy once again at a rear exit following the attorney general's famous speech before an enthusiastic convention audience that gave him a 22-minute ovation.
In October, 2013, Zappone published a book of photos he took during Kennedy's Tampa trip as well as a detailed narrative of his experience with the President during his visit. Its title is: "John F. Kennedy - An Amazing Day for a President and a Kid with His Camera." The publishing date was in observance of the 50th anniversary of JFK's trip and five-hour stay in Tampa. Portions of the book have been reprinted in newspapers and magazines all over the world.
[, Cigar City Magazine, Tampa, Fl., Winter Issue, 2013]
One of Zappone's close-ups of Kennedy, which coincidentally was his brother Robert's favorite of those Zappone took, is etched in a historical marker that was placed in downtown Tampa at Kennedy Boulevard and Franklin Street. Zappone recalled his observations of the Presidential limousine making its turn at that intersection during the dedication of the marker, sponsored by the Tampa Historical Society, held on November 22, 2013.
Speeding chimpanzee cited
Late in 1963, Zappone was monitoring local police frequencies and overheard a
Florida Highway Patrolman requesting a sergeant after he pulled over a
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of Hominidae, great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close rel ...
driving a compact convertible for speeding on
Interstate 4
Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis ...
just east of Tampa.
He rushed to grab a ride with another newsman, WTVT TV reporter Steve Wilson, and arrived in time to photograph the lawman issuing the chimp, named "Cappy," a
citation
A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose o ...
for speeding, reckless driving and having no driver's license.
Robert Slover, owner of then Tampa-based Southern Amusement Enterprises, a traveling carnival featuring the driving "Cappy," had installed a separate brake on the passenger's side of the vehicle and was present at the time the citation was given. The highway patrolman on the scene advised his superiors there was only one steering wheel and it was in front of the chimpanzee.
Subsequently, charges against "Cappy" the chimp were dropped after a
Hillsborough County judge ruled no infraction had occurred because at that time there was no requirement in Florida law that chimpanzees have licenses to drive. Zappone was later commissioned by
NBC Productions, Inc. to shoot film footage of Cappy driving around the Tampa area for later use on that network's ''
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. During the shoot, Zappone was injured when the animal bit unrelentingly into his right hand during a stop at a downtown Tampa intersection and refused to let go until the light turned green 30 seconds later.
During a session of the Florida Legislature, convened the following year, a law was passed prohibiting non-humans from operating mechanical vehicles on all streets and highways within the entire state. The law did not provide for drivers' licenses for any type of animals.
A Career in Television News
At age 17, after a brief stint as junior news hound for Tampa's then
CBS affiliate
WTVT-TV using a borrowed, spring-wound, World War II era
Bell and Howell 16 mm camera, he began shooting news film for Tampa television station
WFLA-TV. At that time (1965), the going rate paid to
freelancers by TV news departments was fifty cents per foot of film used on a
newscast (eighteen feet equaled the average 30-second story.) After 12 years at WFLA-TV, an NBC affiliate, he would return to WTVT-TV as a
news correspondent.
On
April 4, 1966, he was dismissed from college classes because the electricity went out suddenly. Learning from his car radio that a devastating
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
had ripped through the Carrollwood section of North Tampa minutes earlier, Zappone rushed to the scene and became the first newsman with photos and news film of the extensive damage. His exposed 16 mm motion picture film was put on a plane bound for
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where it was processed at the
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
headquarters. The dramatic images of crumbled homes, uprooted trees, mangled cars and other storm aftermath were broadcast that evening on NBC's
Huntley-Brinkley Report, the highest-rated evening news program of that time.
During the late 60's and early 70's, Zappone (while in his early 20s) was a frequent contributor to NBC Radio's weekend
''Monitor'' program. Once he gained the confidence of the show's producers, the network began calling on him to create and submit feature stories for the legendary weekend radio showcase and to cover central Florida hard news stories for Monitor's "News on the Hour." He also submitted stories from the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and other parts of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
while stationed there in the military, 1970-71.
During summer vacations from his studies in political science and mass communications at The
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...
Zappone worked as a reporter/photographer with ''
The Philadelphia Bulletin''. He was a founding staff member (photographer and reporter) of ''
The Oracle'', the groundbreaking University of South Florida campus newspaper which printed its first issue September 6, 1966. In its first year, the publication won two
National Pacemaker Awards given by the
Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) for excellence in college journalism and was named to the ACP Hall of Fame in 1989.
In his second year of college, he joined the staff of ''
The Tampa Tribune
''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area.
The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...
'' and ''The Tampa Times'' as a full-time reporter and photographer. Concurrently, he attended college classes full-time and was an active staff member of The Oracle as well until he graduated in 1969.
Vietnam era military service
During late 1969 and early in 1970 (a part of the Vietnam War era) while in military training at
Pensacola, Florida, Zappone was a part-time news and feature photographer for the Pensacola News and the Pensacola Journal (now combined as the
Pensacola News Journal) under special arrangement. From 1970-71, Zappone served in the U.S. Navy as part of the
Armed Forces Courier Service (ARFCOS), now the
Defense Courier Service (DCS). He was assigned to the
Defense Attaché section,
Embassy of the United States in London, and the
U.S. Naval Forces Europe command in Naples, Italy.
In London, he befriended then
U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter H. Annenberg, founder of
TV Guide
TV Guide is an American digital media
In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
and former owner of
The Philadelphia Inquirer
''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...
and the
Philadelphia Daily News, who became interested in his future career and cleared a path for opportunities in the print and broadcast journalism fields. Zappone also performed functions in Europe during this time for the
National Security Agency, headquartered in
Fort George G. Meade, Maryland.
While in Europe, he was a contributor to
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
programs, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' (formerly the ''
Manchester Guardian'') and ''
The Observer'' newspapers, both based in London, and the European editions of ''
Life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' magazine in a freelance capacity. He was also editor-in-chief of ''The Tartan Log'', a newspaper chronicling the non-classified activities of personnel stationed at U.S. military intelligence installations in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Years that followed
Early in 1974, the general manager of
WFLA (AM) Radio assigned him to be the station's first morning and afternoon drive-time
traffic reporter and field news correspondent. His morning shift put him on air alongside legendary Tampa radio personality
Jack Harris. Using police monitors, a citizens' band radio and making frequent calls to law enforcement agencies, Zappone broadcast his "rush hour" reports from a section of the radio studio, then called "WFLA Traffic Central."
Since that time Zappone has been involved in radio and television commercial production, real estate acquisition and management, charitable fundraising, publishing and Internet business ventures.
On November 10, 2017 Zappone suffered a nearly-fatal stroke while going down stairs at his home and, after months of hospitalization, he was confined to his residence unable to walk. In latter 2018 he once again became active in the commercial real estate business and began production of a children's television program despite his being unable to walk without the aid of a walker or wheelchair.
References
JFK, As I Remember Him
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zappone, Tony
1947 births
American radio reporters and correspondents
American male journalists
American television reporters and correspondents
Living people
Radio personalities from Tampa, Florida
Television anchors from Tampa, Florida
Thomas Jefferson High School (Tampa, Florida) alumni
University of South Florida alumni
Writers from Tampa, Florida