James W. Kynes

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James W. Kynes | image = James W Kynes.jpg | caption = Kynes in 1962 | order = 29th | office = Florida Attorney General | term_start = 1964 | term_end = 1965 | governor = | predecessor = Richard Ervin | successor = Earl Faircloth | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|8|31|mf=y}} | birth_place = Marianna, Florida, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1988|10|14|1928|8|31|mf=y}} | death_place = Tampa, Florida, U.S. | profession = Lawyer | party = Democratic }}

'''James Walter Kynes Jr.''' (August 31, 1928 – October 14, 1988) was an American college and professional football player, lawyer, political appointee, and corporate executive. Kynes served as Florida Attorney General.

== Early life ==

Kynes was born in the small town of Marianna, Florida,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zXzhAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Kynes,+James%22+AND+%221928%22|title = Who was who in America|year = 1943| publisher=Marquis-Who's Who |isbn = 9780837902173}}</ref> located in the Florida Panhandle, in 1928. He attended Marianna High School, where he was received all-state recognition playing for the Marianna Bulldogs high school football team. Kynes graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia, where he received Virginia all-state football honors playing for the Fork Union Blue Devils.

== College career ==

Kynes attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Bear Wolf's "Golden Era" Florida Gators football team from 1946 to 1949.<ref name=ufmediaguide>''[http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2011/media_guide.pdf 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402035222/http://web.gatorzone.com/football/media/2011/media_guide.pdf |date=April 2, 2012 }}'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 96, 103, 123, 178, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011.</ref> Kynes played both offense and defense, and was a third-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) lineman and the Gators' team captain in 1949.<ref name=ufmediaguide/> Memorably, in 1949, he played a key defensive role in the Gators' 28–7 upset of the Georgia Bulldogs and was the last Gator football player to play every minute of an entire sixty-minute game.<ref name=ufmediaguide/> He also played for coach Sam J. McAllister's Florida Gators men's basketball team from 1946 to 1950.

Kynes was an outstanding student and was honored as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Florida College of Business Administration in 1950, and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1976.<ref>F Club, Hall of Fame, [http://www.gatorfclub.org/hall-of-fame/greats Gator Greats]. Retrieved December 14, 2014.</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VHJIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=S10DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5869,205002&dq=university-of-florida-athletic-hall-of-fame&hl=en Nine Named to UF Hall of Fame]," ''St. Petersburg Times'', p. 3C (April 24, 1976). Retrieved July 23, 2011.</ref> All three of Kynes' sons also played football for the Gators in the 1970s.<ref name=hairston>Jack Hairston, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois, pp. 43–45 (2002).</ref> In a series of articles written for ''The Gainesville Sun'' in 2006, Kynes was ranked as No. 91 of the 100 greatest players in the first 100 years of Florida Gators football.<ref>Robbie Andreu & Pat Dooley, "[http://www.gainesville.com/article/20060604/GATORS70/60604005 No. 91 Jimmy Kynes, Sr.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903165135/http://www.gainesville.com/article/20060604/GATORS70/60604005 |date=September 3, 2014 }}," ''The Gainesville Sun'' (August 1, 2006). Retrieved September 2, 2014.</ref>

== Personal life== After graduating from the University of Florida, he married Marjorie Hiatt, a graduate of Florida State University and a former Seminoles cheerleader.<ref name=cridlin7262002>Jay Cridlin, "[http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/26/Citytimes/As_mother__wife_she__.shtml As mother, wife, she 'selflessly served': Marjorie Hiatt Kynes (1929–2002)]," ''St. Petersburg Times'' (July 26, 2002). Retrieved April 28, 2011.</ref>

== Professional football ==

The National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers selected Kynes in the fourteenth round (178th pick overall) of the 1950 NFL draft.<ref>Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.aspx?release_id=1440 1950 National Football League Draft]. Retrieved April 28, 2011.</ref> Kynes chose to play center for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for a single season in {{CFL Year|1950}}.<ref>CFLapedia.com, [http://www.cflapedia.com/ Players A–Z]. Retrieved April 28, 2011.</ref><ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=suNUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fTwNAAAAIBAJ&pg=7143,3442969&dq=doug-belden+football&hl=en Starry Florida centre signs with Roughriders]," ''The Leader-Post'', p. 19 (March 27, 1950). Retrieved March 27, 1950.</ref>

== Law, politics and business ==

Kynes returned to the University of Florida in 1952, where he attended the College of Law and was elected president of Florida Blue Key leadership honorary. He graduated with his bachelor of laws degree in 1955. He subsequently served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force for two years, before entering private practice in Ocala, Florida.<ref name=ufscholarshipbio>University of Florida, Office of Undergraduate Affairs, Scholarships, [http://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/kynes/about.aspx About James W. Kynes (1928–1988)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110831214444/http://undergrad.aa.ufl.edu/kynes/about.aspx |date=August 31, 2011 }}. Retrieved April 28, 2011.</ref>

Kynes served as Florida governor Farris Bryant's executive assistant after Bryant was elected in 1960. In January 1964, Bryant appointed Kynes as the Florida Attorney General to succeed Richard Ervin, after Ervin resigned as attorney general to accept an appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. Kynes stood for a full four-year term in the 1964 Democratic Party primary election in May 1964, but was defeated by 599 votes out of 938,677 cast.<ref>"[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qmMzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=L-oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3203,4716036&dq=james-kynes&hl=en Election Results Certified]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}," ''The Miami News'', p. 1A (May 14, 1964). Retrieved April 29, 2011.</ref> and served the remainder of Ervin's term of office through January 1965.

After his term as Florida Attorney General expired in January 1965, Kynes moved to Tampa, Florida to become vice president of the Jim Walter Corporation. He was executive vice president, secretary, and general counsel of its successor companies Hillsborough Holding Corporation and Walter Industries, Inc.

== Death and legacy ==

Kynes died of stomach cancer at his home in Tampa in 1988; he was 60 years old.<ref name=nytimes10151988>"[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/10/15/obituaries/james-w-kynes-executive-60.html James W. Kynes, Executive, 60]," ''The New York Times'' (October 15, 1988). Retrieved August 1, 2010.</ref> He was survived by his wife of thirty-eight years, Marjorie Hiatt Kynes, and their three sons.<ref name=cridlin7262002/>

Several friends and classmates initiated the James W. Kynes Award in 1986, which is presented annually to the Florida Gators offensive lineman "who best exemplified the mental and physical toughness and 'iron-man' determination Kynes exhibited as a Gator player."<ref name=ufmediaguide/> Kynes previously served as the president of the University of Florida National Alumni Association, and he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus.<ref name=ufscholarshipbio/> After his death, friends and former teammates endowed a University of Florida scholarship in his name.<ref name=ufscholarshipbio/> The university awards the annual $10,000 scholarship to a former Gator student-athlete, who has demonstrated exceptional character and high academic achievement, in order to pursue a graduate or professional degree.<ref name=ufscholarshipbio/>

== References ==

== External links == * [http://www.uff.ufl.edu/Scholarships/ScholarshipInfo.asp?ScholarshipFund=003557 Kynes Scholarship at UF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080401092702/http://www.uff.ufl.edu/Scholarships/ScholarshipInfo.asp?ScholarshipFund=003557 |date=April 1, 2008 }} * [http://digital.lib.usf.edu/?u29.134-k23-ead James W. Kynes Papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104211239/http://digital.lib.usf.edu/?u29.134-k23-ead |date=November 4, 2013 }} at the [http://lib.usf.edu University of South Florida]

{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef | before = Richard W. Ervin}} {{s-ttl | title = Florida Attorney General | years = 1964–1965}} {{s-aft | after = Earl Faircloth}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kynes, James W.}} Category:1928 births Category:1988 deaths Category:Deaths from stomach cancer in Florida Category:Florida attorneys general Category:Florida Democrats Category:Florida Gators football players Category:Florida Gators men's basketball players Category:Florida lawyers Category:People from Marianna, Florida Category:Saskatchewan Roughriders players Category:Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Category:Players of Canadian football from Tampa, Florida Category:Basketball players from Tampa, Florida Category:Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:American men's basketball players Category:Warrington College of Business alumni Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:20th-century Florida politicians