Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

A pinup with no cleavage

Plunge into the life of Mr. June, as he handles fame - please, no plumber's cracks.

By TAMARA EL-KHOURY
Published February 17, 2005

TAMPA - John Gennaro is a quasicelebrity in the plumbing industry. The Tampa native is Mr. June on American Standard's America's Sexiest Plumber calendar. He co-stars with the Doral Classic Champion Two-Piece Toilet.

Gennaro's 15 minutes of fame began after his wife, Ann, 33, found an e-mail in their in-box declaring the final chance to enter the contest. He had been erasing them, knowing she would enter him if she saw them. And sure enough.

Gennaro is 36. His page in the wall calendar shows him in jeans and a striped button-down reclining casually on the toilet, with his elbow propped on the tank and his head resting in his left hand.

His profile highlights his most endearing traits (dedication, trustworthiness), best physical features (dark hair, dark eyes) and most treasured belonging (wedding ring).

The toilet's profile touts its 3-inch flapper-free flush tower, siphon jetted bowl and industry-leading 2 3/8-inch glazed trapway.

We followed this second-generation plumber on a job to see how one of America's Sexiest Plumbers manages to maintain his humility.

8 a.m. Mr. June wears a red cap with the logo of Plumbing Solutions, his not-quite-2-year-old company. He and his plumbers wear white, button-down shirts with an American flag patch and a name tag tucked into navy blue pants.

"We promise that you will not see our plumbers' cracks," Ann Gennaro has declared.

8:15 a.m. On the way to Buck's Plumbing Supply, we conduct a brief interview:

Q: What was the first thing you noticed about the future Mrs. June when you first met her country line dancing? A: Her legs.

Q: Not her beautiful green eyes?

A: What she was wearing at the time, it was her legs.

8:30 a.m. "I've always thought of John as the sexiest plumber I've ever known," says Buck's employee Mike Irwin. Irwin, clearly, is joshing, though he did post a cardboard sign in the store encouraging people to go online during the voting and "Support Tampa's Hottest Plumber."

Plumbers of all ages come out from the back room of Buck's to talk about Tampa's very own pinup plumber. Mr. June will not easily live this down.

8:40 a.m. Mr. June confiscates Mike Irwin's cardboard sign, gently bends it in half and shoves it in a corner of his truck.

9 a.m. Mr. June meets his employee, Mike Haskett, at the Marriott. Haskett had hoped to celebrate his boss' achievement with a gift. "I was going to buy him a pair of underwear with wrenches on it and stuff, but those are kind of hard to find," Haskett says. Today they are working on pipes at the hotel. Access to the first pipe is in the floor of the kitchen. The smell of roasted vegetables is drowned out by the stench of wastewater when Mr. June starts the pump that flushes the pipe. When the smell hits, he does not flinch or scrunch up his nose. Perhaps a less sexy plumber would.

10 a.m. Anthony Phillips, assistant chief engineer at the Marriott, has known Mr. June for six or seven years, since way before he was famous. He praises Mr. June's professionalism and dependability. Q: Do you find him sexy?

A: I can't comment on that. You'll have to ask someone of a different gender.

10:20 a.m. Phillips introduces us to Iris Pou, 35, who has been working as a valet for seven years. Q: Do you find him sexy?

A: Man, yes, ohhh. Q: What do you find sexy about him? A: Everything. Look at him! His eyes, his body, I think they chose the right guy.

(Mr. June concentrates on flushing pipes and ignores the above transaction.)

Tamara El-Khoury can be reached at 727 893-8318 or mike@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 16, 2005, 11:58:02]