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Which names will history remember?

By ERNEST HOOPER
Published December 29, 2006

Portraits of some of Tampa Bay's most famous historic figures, like Dale Mabry and Babe Didrikson Zaharias, adorn the walls of the Capital Grille at International Plaza. In another 20 or 30 years, someone on the 2006 Most Intriguing People of Tampa Bay list may join the illustrious group. May, of course, is the operative word. That's all I'm saying.

Kurt Browning

Browning left his post as the Pasco County supervisor of elections to become the secretary of state, but with the voting process going through overwhelming changes and people calling for a paper trail, it's clear he won't be in Dade City any more.

Curtis Carlson

Maybe you've never heard of SRI International or its chief executive officer, but if the California company succeeds in combining its development skills with the University of South Florida's high tech marine products, Carlson may become one of St. Petersburg's most popular executives.

Grady Irvin Jr.

Irvin's had other famous clients, but the fact this African-American attorney is representing a neo-Nazi in Pasco County has me totally intrigued.

Julie Irwin

In this day and age of instant celebrity, it was refreshing that Irwin didn't try to trade upon a bad incident to boost her fame. Hillsborough County Tax Collector Doug Belden made the 38-year-old the target of unwanted advances while she sat at a bar at Jackson's Bistro. After Belden, who initially denied the charges, publicly apologized, Irwin dropped the case even though videotape vindicated her claim. She handled the incident with class, and hopefully Belden will be a better person because of that.

Lee ??????

A Virginia woman still searches for a man she met one fateful moment on Clearwater Beach 17 years ago. After spending the night with him, all she knows is his first name is Lee, and he's the father of her beautiful daughter, Heather. Hey, Lee, where are you? Jenny Williams wants to know.

Ralph Mervine

From savior of the ill-fated Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway to ousted executive director of the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority, I'll never ride those elevated lanes without thinking of Mervine and the fact he owns a gay porn film production company. But riddle me this: Would he have lost his job if he owned a barbecue joint?

Alex Sink

After defeating Brandon's Tom Lee to become the state's chief financial officer, Thonotosassa's Sink goes to Tallahassee as the only high-ranking Democrat in a sea of Republicans. How she fares will go a long way in determining her future and the fate of the party.

Curtis Stokes

The incoming president of the Hillsborough NAACP is promising to reinvigorate the longtime organization at a time when the county already has lost its Urban League chapter. Not to put pressure on him, but Stokes has to succeed.

Bob Weiner

The Plant High football coach guided the Panthers to their first state championship, but it's the guidance Weiner provides off the field that makes him intriguing. He's inspiring young men to win at football and win at life.

Kevin White

The new Hillsborough County commissioner exits 2006 as the man of a thousand suits after spending $6,000 in campaign contributions on tailor-made threads, but as the only Democrat on the board, White can gain credibility if he rises above the partisanship. Like the others on this list, we haven't heard the last of White.

Ernest Hooper can be reached at hooper@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 29, 2006, 00:00:23]