{"id":260898,"date":"2026-05-06T17:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/260898\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T17:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T17:51:12","slug":"ted-turner-cnn-founder-died-at-his-ranch-near-tallahassee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/260898\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Turner, CNN founder, died at his ranch near Tallahassee"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ted Turner, the media mogul who created CNN and other lodestars of cable TV, died at his ranch in Jefferson County, Florida \u2013 his retreat from Atlanta and the media spotlight\u00a0the opinionated and visionary philanthropist attracted.\u00a0He died May 6 at the age of 87.<\/p>\n

From USA TODAY: Ted Turner, maverick media mogul and CNN founder, dies at 87<\/a><\/p>\n

Turner\u00a0had purchased\u00a0Avalon, a 8,000-acre former\u00a0cotton plantation near Capps, about 25 miles from the state capital, in 1985. He and Jane Fonda married there on Christmas 1991 and the couple became a somewhat familiar presence in Tallahassee. <\/p>\n

Turner also delivered a 2006 lecture at Florida A&M University, in which he argued that climate change and resource depletion were existential issues. It was a theme that resonated in his management of Avalon. Indeed, he left behind a local legacy that blends celebrity politics with environmental stewardship.<\/p>\n

\"Media<\/p>\n

Media mogul Ted Turner, delivered a speech that was brief and to the point. His blend of comedy and sincerity won the crowd at FAMU’s graduation in 2006. Turner died at age 87 on April 6, 2026.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s visits were typically low-key,\u00a0but their appearances in\u00a0Tallahassee that\u00a0included private meetings and out-on-the-town sightings became\u00a0part of\u00a0local\u00a0lore.<\/p>\n

They would mingle with hunters\u00a0purchasing\u00a0equipment at local shops or wait in line (briefly) with other diners\u00a0on a busy Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, they could be seen enjoying a burger\u00a0at the Ted\u2019s\u00a0Montana Grill on Capital Circle Northeast, the restaurant chain Turner founded\u00a0to promote sustainable ranching and popularize bison meat.<\/p>\n

\"Ted's<\/p>\n

Ted’s Montana Grill<\/p>\n

Turner, Fonda became local, national ‘power couple’<\/p>\n

Turner and Fonda were the ultimate power couple of the 1990s, and\u00a0their time at Avalon drew national attention to north Florida.<\/p>\n

Turner\u00a0purchased\u00a0the property\u00a0to create a working landscape tied to wildlife management and habitat restoration. \u00a0At the time he said the idea was \u201ca bit of a stretch for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, Turner added more than 500 acres to the property. He managed it with a commitment to environmental preservation. He believed large contiguous tracts gave land a chance to function as a system rather than exist as a collection of fragments.\u00a0He\u00a0followed prescribed burnings, native grass\u00a0restoration\u00a0and longleaf pine management\u00a0of his land.<\/p>\n

Also, nearly three dozen endangered red cockaded woodpeckers were released on the property in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n

And in 2014 nine rehabilitated gopher tortoises were relocated within the property’s longleaf pine ecosystem. <\/p>\n

Architectural Digest highlighted Turner’s ‘sprawling’ house<\/p>\n

In 2004, Architectural Digest published a feature<\/a> on Turner’s home at Avalon, built in 1938 and described as a “sprawling … 15,000-square-foot Colonial Revival plantation house.”<\/p>\n

“With its white multicolumned fa\u00e7ade and curving twin wings, (it) betokens all manner of graces as well as all graces of manor,” the magazine reported.<\/p>\n

“Behind the house are three tiers of formal gardens and a 300-acre natural lake (there’s another, man-made lake a mile and a half away, which he keeps stocked with bass and bream),” it went on.<\/p>\n

“Tellingly, there is no pool in sight. ‘I’m not into pools,’ (Turner) says.”<\/p>\n

As for the estate itself, it’s “situated in the Red Hills region of north Florida, (and) is not only a naturalist’s paradise but a historic property, established as the Welaunee cotton plantation by a member of the distinguished Gamble family of Virginia in 1826.”<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first thought was to call it Camelot,\u201d Turner says in the article, \u201cbut on second thought, that was a little too corny, so I gave it another Arthurian name \u2013 Avalon. My Avalon is also a mystical place.\u201d<\/p>\n

(This story was updated to add\u00a0new information.)<\/p>\n

James Call\u00a0is a member of the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at\u00a0jcall@tallahassee.com<\/a>\u00a0and is on X as\u00a0@CallTallahassee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Ted Turner, CNN founder, died at his ranch near Tallahassee<\/a><\/p>\n