when reading a newspaper was cool - Michael Lebron worked as a newspaperman in Tampa. He worked for the now defunct Tampa Times. Kurt Vonnegut is right. Defunct is a funny word. ...more

August 17, 2008

At the start of each new year the media reports a list of people, famous and infamous, who died during the previous 12 months. Reviewing this year's list, I couldn't help but think about what it had cost each individual to make it onto that roster. Aside from the obvious cost, (they had to die to get there), every person listed had done something notable, either admirable or ignoble. A few contributed to the advancement of medicine or science, or like Ruth Bell Graham, spiritual inspiration, leaving a legacy of healing and improvement in the quality of life for the entire planet. Each of those individuals studied long and hard, worked countless hours, and some spent fortunes of their own money to achieve a success, for which they will be remembered in encyclopedias, and scarcely anywhere else. ...more

January 6, 2008

All were consigned to memory this year. Here is a look back at some of the notables who died in 2007. ...more

December 31, 2007

"Be careful who you pretend to be because you are who you pretend to be." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., "Mother Night". TAMPA - Just what is Tampa pretending to be? If you believe the latest accolade bestowed on this town, Tampa is party central. Maxim magazine this week dubbed Tampa sixth on the Top 10 list of party cities, based on a formula that awards points for the number of strip joints, bars, divorcees and even condom sales. And if Tampa teetotalers object, look no further than Saturday night's Guavaween, the annual drunk fest costume party in Ybor City that runs a close second to Gasparilla in inebriation. ...more

October 26, 2007