By Andrew Meacham, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
TAMPA — While still in elementary school in his native Tampa, Joseph Campo dutifully attended piano lessons ordered by his parents.
Soon, his piano teacher sent him home with a note of apology. Young Joseph had no musical ability, she said.
He soldiered on alone, and within a few years was playing everything from classical music to peppy jitterbug tunes. He would go on to teach himself boat building, clock repair and residential construction.
Dr. Campo, a founding faculty member of the University of South Florida College of Medicine, died Dec. 10, at Kindred Hospital Central Tampa, of heart trouble and other illnesses. He was 81.
He was born in Tampa, the grandson of a Sicilian immigrant. Friends recall a droll sense of humor.
"In English class, there was a question about what was inscribed on King Arthur's sword," said ...