Extracted from The St. Petersburg Times (St. Petersburg, FL)
Wednesday, August 24, 1955

Recluse Author Is Found Dead In Sarasota

SARASOTA. -- Paul H. Dodge, 70, recluse lawyer-author, whose body was discovered yesterday in the kitchen of his studio home, 303 S. Palm Ave., apparently died of natural causes, according to a preliminary investigation. However, police said an autopsy will be held.

Dodge apparently had been dead several days and was last seen alive four days ago. The body, in a state of decomposition, was removed to Robarts Funeral Home where the autopsy will be performed.

Police Lt. Francis L. Scott and Sgt. A. E. Johnson, along with William H. Stockham, assistant state attorney, are investigating. Stockham said the dead man's mail had not been picked up since Aug. 18. Correspondence found in his home revealed Dodge was the author of several books and formerly had a law office in Houston.

Wilfred T. Robarts, funeral director, said a sister of the dead man, Miss Faith Dodge, of Los Angeles, had written to Robarts recently, saying her brother suffered from a heart condition.

She also said he wrote several books of a legal nature. Miss Dodge is en route to make funeral arrangements.

The body, clad only in shorts, was found wedged between a stove and sink where Dodge apparently had collapsed, and was attired only in shorts.

Louis Caravelli, a Florida Power and Light employe, said he knocked at the kitchen door after going to the house to shut off the power. When he got no answer, Caravelli said, he opened the door and discovered Dodge's body.