Marty Clear, a talented free-lance writer in Tampa, has just learned he has a large tumor on his kidney. He has no health insurance.
Cancer is scary enough. Without coverage? I can't even imagine.
I asked him to write about what's happening to him, as it unfolds. See his first column on our Consumer Corner page.
Marty's a character. When I asked him for more columns, he said, "Sure, that'd be great! It's like getting paid for therapy."
When I asked him to write a mini-bio, this is what he gave me:
"Marty Clear, who has mixed emotions about turning 60 in a few weeks, hails from the suburbs of Cleveland, but he's been a freelance journalist in the Tampa Bay area for more than half his life. Besides Health News Florida, his work these days appears regularly in the St. Petersburg Times (mostly obits) and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (mostly CD reviews).
"He has also been a regular contributor to the New York Daily News, the Tampa Tribune, Tampa Bay Medical News and USF Magazine, plus several online publications, and he was the performing arts columnist for Weekly Planet and Tampa Bay Illustrated magazine.
"He also used to own a record store and a Domino's Pizza franchise, but he tries not to think about those periods of his life."
--Health News Florida is an independent online publication dedicated to public-service journalism. Contact Editor Carol Gentry at 727-410-3266 or by e-mail.
