A Fading Queen?

Oh no! Say it ain't so!

I just got the new Sarasota Magazine and while flipping through the pages noted the back page story about this Dairy Queen.

After 52 years this red & white icon will soon be making way for, guess what, a new office building.

While it may not happen for a couple years, times are changing. For better or worse, Sarasota is becoming a real city, as our commissioners like to say.

The Sarasota Mag story quotes owner Linda Pawloski, "To many people, the new one's aren't real Dairy Queens. It has to have that outdoor counter; there's something about it that makes them comfortable." Kinda like the Hob Nob - a comfortable place that welcomes everyone.

And, there is the Stuart Kaminsky connection to this dairy Queen:

Lew Fonseca quit his job as a process server with the State Attourney's Office in Cook County, Illinois, and drove his rattling Toyota south to escape the memories of his beloved late wife. Headed for Key West, the Toyota broke down in a Dairy Queen parking lot in Sarasota, Florida. Buoyed by the friendship of a few trustworthy souls, Lew settled there, making ends meet by doing some investigative work for local attorneys.

If you haven't read any of Kaminsky's Lew Fonesca novels, you are missing out on another real treat. Pick up a copy of any of these: Vengeance (1999), Retribution (2001), Midnight Pass (2003). Unique characters in a unique setting make for a memorable story (along with a good dose of Kaminsky's terrific story telling).

Here's hoping that Stuart Kaminsky writes a few more Fonesca stories before the DQ memory fades along with the rest of the unique and memorable Sarasota we all love.