The self-proclaimed King of the Oldies died before his encyclopedia of Florida rock 'n' roll could be published.
By CRAIG BASSE
Published September 17, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Kurt Curtis spent nearly a quarter century pursuing his passion: Florida's rock 'n' roll history.
The huge book he wrote about it became his life's work. He dreamed of seeing it published.
Wednesday, as his publisher was packing up the book to send to the press, Mr. Curtis, 53, collapsed at his St. Petersburg apartment and died.
Shocked, his publisher, E. Douglas Cifers at Florida Media Inc. in Orlando, decided to hold off on printing the encyclopedia to make some appropriate changes.
"We pulled it to give some time to see what we could add," he said. "It is sad that he didn't see his work come to fruition."
The cause of his death was not immediately determined, said a niece, Cindy Szabries of St. Petersburg.
Mr. Curtis had spent $250,000, he once said, amassing information for a journey back to the days of drive-in restaurants, bands that rocked around the clock and teens who twisted the night away, according to an account in the Times four years ago.
The result was a completed manuscript approaching 2,000 pages, accompanied by countless photos. He titled the encyclopedic history of Florida's rock, soul and dance music from 1955-1985, Florida's Famous and Forgotten.
He set up a Web site offering to accept deposits for the encyclopedia "to secure your piece of Florida music history."
A visitor to his cluttered St. Petersburg condo in 2000 described Mr. Curtis as a man with swept-back black hair, a Wolfman Jack goatee and a commitment to his project that went beyond obsession.
"Some people like to lay around on the couch and watch Jerry Springer, but I've been working every day for two decades to make this book a reality, and I want that to be my legacy," the self-proclaimed King of the Oldies - KOTO for short - said at the time.
"This is my mission in life. I want to be remembered as the guy who saved the history of Florida rock music."
There were framed album covers of Little Anthony and the Imperials, concert posters of Bo Diddley, and a photo montage of Mr. Curtis with scores of rock 'n' roll greats he met, such as Dick Clark, Chubby Checker, Del Shannon and Wolfman Jack.
Two huge wooden cabinets and old metal file drawers contained, by his estimate, more than 200,000 vintage 45s. He stopped keeping count years ago.
Born in St. Petersburg, Mr. Curtis grew up listening to rock 'n' roll. In his early teens, he started playing records at dances, drummed in a St. Petersburg rock band and then attended Northeast High School.
After Navy service, he became a professional nightclub DJ and worked in clubs from Miami to Houston to Philadelphia - even overseas. In 1992 he began focusing all his spare time on the encyclopedia.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete Thursday.
Information from Times files was used in this obituary.
