TALENT - The colorful curmudgeon known as Tig, whose profane signs along South Pacific Highway visually mugged motorists and plagued politicians, has died.

Cedric "Tig" Dunham, 81, who had had an unspecified illness for the past couple of months, died Wednesday morning at Rogue Valley Medical Center.

But his war of words with the world live on in the roadside writing that stretches for 100 feet along the highway.

"ASHLAND STINKS OF THE STENCH OF MAYOR GOLDEN," reads one billboard, referring to Mayor Cathy Shaw, who recently changed her name when she remarried.

The sign goes on to refer to Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, and Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, as "sons of bitches," one of Dunham's pet profanities.

"He certainly embraced free speech in a big way," Shaw observed.

Until her name climbed to the top of Dunham's billboard about two years ago, Dunham dropped by her office several times a year, she said.

"He always brought a couple of newspaper articles he wanted me to read," she said. "But mostly he just wanted to visit.

"I always wondered why I hadn't made his sign," she added. "I kind of felt honored when I saw myself up there."

Shaw drove past the sign Thursday, partially out of respect for Dunham, partially out of curiosity. She counted nine "sons of bitches" on his signboards.

"He was part of the local color," she said, adding, "I'm going to miss Tig."

Talent Mayor Frank Falsarella, whose name has long been a target of Dunham's highway harangue, won't soon forget him.

"He had his beliefs - I respect that," Falsarella said. "Some of the things he did I didn't approve of, like the profanity."

Dunham was estranged from his family, said his son, Cedric Maxwell Dunham, 60, of Los Angeles, who hadn't seen his father since a short visit in 1968. His parents divorced when he was a teenager, the younger Dunham explained.

"Tig was just a very prideful person," said Gary Converse of Talent, a friend of Dunham's. "He would never ask anybody for a dime. All he wanted was the truth. When people lied, that bothered him.

"I did not agree with the profanity on the signs, but I believe his ventures were in the best interest of the community."

The only roadside writing Talent resident Tony Padilla saw on the property in 1979 was a "For Rent" sign. Padilla promptly rented a portion of the property for his Vintage Coach and Colour business and stayed on over the years.

"There were no political signs at the time," recalled Padilla, who described himself as a friend as well as a renter. "When his property was assessed real high a few years later, he put up a protest sign. It all just escalated from there."

The bright yellow and white letters are laid out on a sky-blue background; they repeatedly blasted Falsarella and other politicians who drew Dunham's ire.

Dunham, who often wore a red baseball cap lettered with "Guardian of the First Amendment," made a point of targeting city officials with obscenities and allegations of wrongdoing.

He periodically branched off, addressing what he felt was a broad conspiracy involving local and state officials, the news media and the Catholic Church.

Ashland attorney Ron Cue represented Dunham during what Cue called the "great sign battle" in the early 1980s, when the city of Talent attempted to prohibit Dunham's signs.

"While we might disagree with the contents, Tig's big thing was the First Amendment," Cue said, noting that the signs began to multiply "like rabbits" after Dunham won a case on appeal.

Courts later ruled the city's sign ordinance violated the First Amendment's free speech protection.

Dunham's friends predict the signs he left behind will be removed.

"It's time for the signs to come down," Converse said. "I'd be the first one to say that. It's time to bring a close to everything, to bring the community together."