Gerald Ensley: Mission won't be the same without historian Hann
Tallahassee's most historic site reaches another milestone Dec. 13 when Mission San Luis opens its new visitor center. The Spanish-styled, 24,000-square-foot facility provides a modern introduction to the ancient village of Spanish settlers and Apalachee Indians.
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But the man who's arguably done the most to tell the mission's story will miss the debut: John Hann died Nov. 7 after a year-long battle with Parkinson's disease.
Hann, 86, was the leading historian on the Florida period when Europeans first arrived. He had been the senior historian at Mission San Luis since the state bought the site in 1983. He wrote nearly a dozen books about early Florida and co-authored the definitive text about Mission San Luis.
There's an ache in the heart of all who care about Florida history.
"I loved John to bits and will always consider it one of the great honors of my life to have worked with him for 20 years," said mission director Bonnie McEwan, who co-authored Hann's book about Mission San Luis. "He laid the foundation for everything that was done here."
A native of Lowell, Mass., Hann began his career as a Catholic priest and spent several years as a missionary in Brazil.
He left the priesthood for academia, earning a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of Texas and coming to Tallahassee in the early 1960s to teach at Florida State.
There is irony to Hann's successful career as an author — or perhaps just sweet redemption. He could not gain tenure at FSU, Florida Atlantic or New Mexico State because he failed to publish.
Read entire article at Tallahassee.com
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But the man who's arguably done the most to tell the mission's story will miss the debut: John Hann died Nov. 7 after a year-long battle with Parkinson's disease.
Hann, 86, was the leading historian on the Florida period when Europeans first arrived. He had been the senior historian at Mission San Luis since the state bought the site in 1983. He wrote nearly a dozen books about early Florida and co-authored the definitive text about Mission San Luis.
There's an ache in the heart of all who care about Florida history.
"I loved John to bits and will always consider it one of the great honors of my life to have worked with him for 20 years," said mission director Bonnie McEwan, who co-authored Hann's book about Mission San Luis. "He laid the foundation for everything that was done here."
A native of Lowell, Mass., Hann began his career as a Catholic priest and spent several years as a missionary in Brazil.
He left the priesthood for academia, earning a Ph.D. in Latin American history from the University of Texas and coming to Tallahassee in the early 1960s to teach at Florida State.
There is irony to Hann's successful career as an author — or perhaps just sweet redemption. He could not gain tenure at FSU, Florida Atlantic or New Mexico State because he failed to publish.