Former Governor Winfield Dunn Becomes an Author

THE EIGHTY YEAR OLD FORMER GOVERNOR CAN ADD A NEW TITLE TO HIS RESUME... PUBLISHED AUTHOR.


WINFIELD DUNN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY WON'T HIT STORE SHELVES UNTIL EARLY NEXT MONTH... BUT TONIGHT WE'RE GIVING YOU A SNEAK PREVIEW.

GOVERNOR DUNN SPENT SEVERAL YEARS WORKING ON THIS BOOK.

HE CALLS IT THE TRUE RECORD OF HIS TIME IN OFFICE... A CHANCE FOR HIM TO GIVE HIS SIDE OF THE STORY... IN HIS OWN WORDS

IT'S THE QUESTION GOVERNOR WINFIELD DUNN HAS BEEN ASKED FOR 37 YEARS...

Governor Winfield Dunn: "How in the world could a dentist from Memphis ever get to be the governor of the state of Tennessee (chuckle)?"

EVEN GOVERNOR DUNN SAYS IT'S REMARKABLE HOW A MAN WHO NEVER HELD PUBLIC OFFICE... BECAME GOVERNOR.

IT'S A STORY NOW CAPTURED IN A 527 PAGE MEMOIR CALLED "FROM A STANDING START."

WINFIELD DUNN / FORMER TENNESSEE GOVERNOR: "The lesson there is that we shouldn't stop dreaming because you never know what can happen in this wonderful life."

THE BOOK TELLS THE STORY OF THE GOVERNOR'S EARLY LIFE... INCLUDING HIS SERVICE IN WORLD WAR II...

"My license in Tennessee."

...AND A THRIVING DENTAL PRACTICE IN MEMPHIS.

BUT MAINLY IT'S ABOUT THE FOUR YEARS HE SERVED AS TENNESSEE'S GOVERNOR FROM 1971 TO 1975.

"And we just did what we thought we should do and it all worked out pretty well."

WHEN HE TOOK OFFICE AT THE AGE OF 43 HE WAS THE FIRST REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR ELECTED SINCE 1921... TENNESSEE HAS BEEN A TWO-PARTY STATE EVER SINCE.

"And I love the fact that we have two parties now, not one, the people have a choice every November."

GOVERNOR DUNN'S BOOK IS FILLED WITH HUMOR... AND STORIES ABOUT FORMER PRESIDENTS AND CELEBRITIES HE'S MET.

HE WROTE THE BOOK FROM HIS HOME IN WEST NASHVILLE.

HE SAYS STATE GOVERNMENT TODAY IS MUCH DIFFERENT.

"My first budget was slightly over one billion dollars, the budget in Tennessee today is in the range of 24,25, 26 billion dollars.

WHILE GOVERNOR DUNN HOPES HIS BOOK WILL BE SUCCESSFUL, HE SAYS HE MAINLY WANTS HIS FAMILY TO KNOW HIS STORY... OF HOW A DENTIST BECAME GOVERNOR.

"It's a good story. It's a truly good American story."

GOVERNOR DUNN ONLY SERVED FOUR YEARS IN OFFICE... THAT'S BECAUSE WHEN HE WAS ELECTED... TENNESSEE GOVERNORS WERE LIMITED TO ONE TERM.

BUT HE SAYS THOSE FOUR SHORT YEARS WERE AMONG THE BEST OF HIS LIFE.Former Governor Winfield Dunn Becomes an Author