Bill Day honors passing of Tampa’s “Mr. Everything”

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Prominent Tampa developer and philanthropist Al Austin — known as Tampa’s “Mr. Everything” — passed away Wednesday evening at the age of 85.

Austin, a former Republican Party finance chair, was one of the forces behind the Republican National Convention coming to Tampa in 2012.  He was also responsible for the development of the West Shore business district, the single biggest business district on the Gulf coast.

Austin also spearheaded the fundraising campaign to expand the University of Tampa, and served as Tampa Airport Authority chair.

Bill Day honors the legacy of Tampa’s leading Republican, in his latest editorial cartoon:

Bill Day Al Austin 2

 

Phil Ammann is a St. Petersburg-based journalist and blogger. With more than three decades of writing, editing and management experience, Phil produced material for both print and online, in addition to founding HRNewsDaily.com. His broad range includes covering news, local government and culture reviews for Patch.com, technical articles and profiles for BetterRVing Magazine and advice columns for a metaphysical website, among others. Phil has served as a contributor and production manager for SaintPetersBlog since 2013. He lives in St. Pete with his wife, visual artist Margaret Juul and can be reached at [email protected] and on Twitter @PhilAmmann.