By Mary Kissane, FCHoF Student Fellow
Nancy Gurnett Hardy was born on December 18th, 1932 to Jack Gurnett, a famed Sarasota Citrus Reporter. She attended Winter Haven High School, and graduated in 1950. She attended some classes at both University of Florida and Florida State University, before ultimately attending and completing secretarial school.
Hardy went on to get her first job at Cypress Gardens, a botanical garden in Florida founded by Dick Pope. She then moved on to working for several magazines. Before assisting her father at the Florida Citrus Reporter. After Hardy’s father’s death, she continued at the Reporter. She continued to write for newspapers across the state, and started to write for Citrus Industry Magazine as a senior writer. She worked with them for over 20 years, and won numerous awards for her journalistic endeavors.
Nancy G. Hardy passed away on January 26th, 2003 after a long battle with cancer. Hardy was a well known individual in the Citrus Industry and was inducted into the Citrus Hall of Fame in 2002.
References: Nancy Gurnett Hardy. Florida Citrus Hall of Fame. (n.d.). https://floridacitrushalloffame.com/inductees/nancy-gurnett-hardy/
