Gerald Ensley

Gerald Ensley (Aug. 16, 1951 – 16 February 2018^[1]) was a newspaper reporter and columnist for the Tallahassee Democrat as well as an author. He appeared on WFSU's show Perspectives.^[2]

He was born on an Air Force base in Nagoya, Japan. His father was an Air Force master sergeant and then worked for the federal civil service. His mother was a civil service clerk typist who became a procurement supervisor in the federal government. He graduated from Satellite Beach High School in 1969.^[1]

He attended Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee for two years before dropping out and working various jobs including as a taxi driver in Tallahassee before returning to FSU and graduating with a political science degree in 1980. Flambeau for two years in 1978 and 1980, winning a College Sportswriter Of the Year award from Sports Illustrated in 1980. After graduating he joined the Tallahassee Democrat.^[1]

He was married to Sally Karioth and raised her daughter Amanda Karioth-Thompson with her. He made a short video documentary of one of his vacations travelling.^[3] He wrote up detailed instructions for his funeral.^[4] The Desert Sun published photos of him "through the years".^[5]

In 2022, Florida State University established an endowed developing writer award named in his honor.^[6][7] Johnny Bell was the inaugural recipient.^[8]

Publishings

• From The Sidelines, The Best of Bill McGrotha (1993), editor
• Tallahassee Democrat, 100 Years (2005)
• We Found Paradise': Gerald Ensley on the History and Eccentricities of His Beloved Tallahassee, a collection of his articles (2018)^[9][10]