Delaware, OH — Hall of Fame Communicator Dean Hoffman has been named the Tom White Media Award winner for 2022 by the Little Brown Jug and the Delaware County Fair.

Dean Hoffman’s storied Standardbred media career will be celebrated later this month when he receives the Tom White Media Award at the Delaware (Ohio) County Fair. File photo.

A native of Montgomery, Ohio, Hoffman worked at Walnut Hall Farm, in Lexington, Ky., and groomed horses for a Grand Circuit stable while attending Ohio University, where he obtained a journalism degree in 1971.

He worked in public relations and advertising agencies in varying capacities before being named executive editor of the United States Trotting Association’s monthly magazine, Hoof Beats, in 1981. He held that position for almost 25 years, longer than any previous editor.

Hoffman wrote several books on harness racing, including Yankeeland: The Farm the Kellers Built, Castleton Farm: A Tradition of Standardbred Excellence, Quest for Excellence: Hanover Shoe Farms: The First 75 Years, Harness Racing in New York State: A History of Trotter, Tracks and Horsemen, and The Hambletonian: America’s Trotting Classic.

Hoffman won Harness Horsemen International’s Media Award (1999), Harness Tracks of America’s Dan Patch Award (2003) and Stan Bergstein Messenger Award (2005), the Pinnacle Award (2006), and was named American Horse Publications’ Champion (2017).

In 2007, Hoffman received the sport’s highest honor, induction into the Harness Racing Communicators’ Hall of Fame.

Hoffman will be presented his award at a ceremony on the evening of Sept. 20, the Tuesday before the Little Brown Jug, in the Delaware Log Cabin.

The award honors the legacy of longtime Little Brown Jug and Hall of Fame publicist Tom White, who passed away in 2019.