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'Barefoot Stew' Left Awfully Big Hoofprints

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By DANIEL RUTH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2008

With his passing a few days ago, Stew McDonald left some pretty big shoes to fill - that is, if he ever owned any.

For a better part of his 83 years, this iconoclastic, eccentrics' eccentric was better known throughout the Tampa Bay area as "Barefoot Stew" McDonald - raconteur, pilot, race car driver, stunt water skier extraordinaire and a man who almost never, ever, ever threw anything away.

Indeed, one might have honestly arrived at the conclusion that the final warehouse scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was inspired by McDonald's Drew Park house, which was more a warren of pathways carved out of mountains of books, magazines and memorabilia of a life lived to the fullest - and shoeless.

I was a film critic when I first met McDonald in the 1970s, when he had carved out yet another of his many careers as a location consultant for movie companies looking to film in the area.

With his own handsome movie star looks, McDonald could have probably starred in many of the flicks he was assisting - as long as they didn't require dancing.

200 Pounds On The Hoof

For McDonald simply refused to wear shoes. Not as a pilot, flying bombers for the U.S. Air Force, not in the office on base, not in restaurants - never, anytime, anywhere.

McDonald didn't really have feet. He had - hoofs.

While in the military at MacDill Air Force Base, McDonald began giving water skiing lessons to officers and their families, later opening his own ski school off the Courtney Campbell Parkway.

He briefly raced cars in NASCAR and founded the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team, which performed at such venues as Cypress Gardens.

Garry Stout, a director for the Tampa Bay Water Ski Show Team, recalled when McDonald suggested a stunt to another hot shot team member involving the skier ducking under a jump ramp while McDonald would fly off the ramp, kick off his skis and land on the poor chap's shoulders.

It seemed like a great idea, Stout remembered. Alas, the skier neglected to take into account McDonald was a 200-pound-plus, 6-foot-4 load he had to catch. It wasn't pretty.

He Had Soul, But No Sole

In time, McDonald parlayed his water skiing prowess into gigs providing commentary for "Wide World of Sports," as well as his induction into the Hall of Fame for the American Water Ski Association.

McDonald rarely was denied entry anywhere because of his lack of footwear. Just in case, he carried a letter from the Federal Aviation Authority noting passengers were not required to wear shoes.

Odd ducks like Stew McDonald leaven a city's personality, reminding us we are more than bricks and mortar. We are a collection of individuals, some sane, some less so, some unconventional, some delightfully different.

"Stew did say once he tried to fashion a pair of dress shoes that had no sole," Stout laughed. Interesting concept, though probably not much a demand for such an invention.

You have to believe that right about now Stew McDonald has found a new ski pupil. He will teach the young man how to fly off a ramp barefoot, if the student will show him how to walk on water.

Seems like a fair trade.

Keyword: Book of Ruth, to read and comment on Daniel Ruth's blog.

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