When you auction off your front cover, as we do once a year to benefit The Children’s Home, you never know what you’re going to wind up with. For the first two years, the winners were the generous folks at Lucky Dill restaurant in Palm Harbor, who used the covers to promote their humungous sandwiches. This year, the top bidder was Our Family Doctors, a group medical practice with offices in Largo, Clearwater and Seminole. Benign enough — didn’t seem like we’d be getting anything controversial from doctors — plus, we found an unexpected source of reassurance from our own staff. Our online producer, Dave Russell, has been a patient of Dr. James R. Kinney, the founder and co-owner of the practice, since he was 9, and tells us that the doc is a “cool cat.”
Know what you’re thinking, but no, the fix wasn’t in; David had no control over who won the auction, and Our Family Doctors had no idea Dave worked here until we told them. And Dr. Kinney does indeed seem like a “cool cat.” For instance, it was his idea to use the cover to showcase his staff. That’s him with the goatee at the right of his logo; the co-owner, Dr. Allen Finkelstein, is to the left. And the rest of the crew, minus a few camera-shy employees, includes the practice’s five physicians, four physician assistants, a nurse practitioner, three registered nurses, managers, medical assistants, receptionists, referral coordinators, billing specialists, certified coders, medical records specialists, lab techs, administrative support staff — whew!
Dave says that Dr. Kinney has seen him through childhood ailments, a near-fatal wasp sting and the death of his father. The doctor is known for his accessibility, but as his practice has grown he’s cut down on his hours and now has more time to pursue other interests; he and his wife are mixed martial artists and motorcyclists, and at press time they were traveling through Antarctica. (It’s no wonder Kinney’s top administrator, Teresa King, refers to him as the “#1 dog on this sled.”) Dr. Finkelstein is equally accomplished; a former teacher, he was named Physician of the Year in 2003 and, like Kinney, acts as a preceptor for local med students and family practice residents. One more proof of Kinney’s coolness factor; he’s a big fan of Merl Reagle’s crossword puzzle, and in addition to winning the cover he also won the dinner with Merl and a puzzle with his name in it.
Once again, thanks to all who bid on items in this year’s auction: The total amount raised for The Children’s Home was $17,490.49.
Feedback
CL’s Facebook page was abuzz this past week with disagreements that could politely be described as “vigorous.” Excerpts follow; check out facebook.com/cltampabay or cltampa.com for more.
Re “Numbers game: The Rick Scott job-creation myth,” by Tristram Koren/Florida Center for Investigative Reporting,” Jan. 12: “Korten [and FCIR] answered a lot of questions I have had about Governor Scott claims. But it may seem that conservatives would look at this information as plain truth meaning nothing, while the rest of us will know that it is nothing but, the plain truth.” robbo06, cltampa.com.
Facebook commenters lived up to robbo’s prediction. Tim C Jones: “Love it guys!! The loaf ROCKS!! Don’t ever let the facts get in the way of a good story!! You guys are haters and you need to get a bit of balance and maybe, just maybe, people will start to use your paper for something other than a dog poop catcher!!” Steven Frediani wondered how anybody could have voted for Scott, since “He just looks like a huge prick.” Tim responded that he tries not to choose his leaders by their looks, but then went on to say, “..libs seem to hate on a wholesale basis but conservatives can’t even joke about Michelle Obama’s huge ass without being classified as ‘racist.’” To which Lauren Gilmore replied, “The mere fact that you seem to think mocking the first lady of the United States is anything but crude and disgustingly immature says a whole lot more about you and the people who mock her than it does about anything else.”
Re Rays dump Damon for a “birther,” The Daily Loaf, Jan. 12: Opinions differed re Mitch Perry’s report that the Rays are replacing DH Johnny Damon with the Baltimore Orioles’ Luke Scott, a well-known “birther.” Some, like Melisa Taylor, were disappointed in the choice: “…we traded an awesome down-to-earth person like Johnny for a bigot! Rays have just lost a fan.” Others, like Eric Saylor, cared only about his ability: “As long as he can hit, get on base and score runs, I wouldn’t care if he was a communist.” And Nick Gallio raised this interesting question: “Where was an article criticizing the Rays back in ’03 when they signed Julio Lugo to a contract less than 2 weeks after he was released by the astros for beating the hell out of his wife?”
Re “STAY GRASSY! Signed up for Field Day yet?,” January 11: The crew from the Best of the Bay-winning Tampa Natives Show (tampanativesshow.com, live on Tuesdays at 7 p.m.) jumped all over our reference to “Tampa Bay Field Day.” We tried to explain we were trying to be inclusive, inviting people from all over the Tampa Bay area, to which Mario R. Nunez replied, “Then call it … The Tampa Bay Area Field Day! Don’t help those that would change the proper name of our city. Be precise.” David Russell, attempting to add a little levity to the conversation, opined, “I for one am looking forward to our next, exciting Tampa Bay Area Buccaneers game!!” Mario’s rejoinder: “Wrong again Creative Loafing … This will make a great topic for next week’s Tampa Natives Show. Be sure and tune in so you can hear our rebuttal…”
So tune in … and come to Field Day. It’s on Feb. 26 at USF’s Fowler Fields.
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.