TAMPA, Fla. — Kumba, a steel roller coaster that thrilled Busch Gardens Tampa Bay riders for more than three decades, closed permanently Sunday after 33 years of operation. Services are pending.
I share this obituary because Kumba’s 1993 launch marked a fun and pivotal moment in my professional journalism career — my first first-person newspaper story.
At the time, I was toiling as a Tampa Tribune police-beat reporter, frequently writing multiple articles and briefs a day on shootings, stabbings, robberies, and drug busts. Fortunately, none of those incidents mandated a first-person account.
But my seldom-tapped, low-pressure side beat was Busch Gardens, so I welcomed the opportunity to spend a sunny April morning covering Kumba’s debut. Someone else could mind the pesky police scanner for a day.
As a member of the Tampa media, I scored the chance to try out the coaster a day ahead of its official opening. For my first ride, operators clicked me into the front row as Tribune photographer Todd Chappel mounted his camera on an elaborate contraption secured to the car’s front, capturing this upside-down photo of me (second from right) smiling through what was then the world’s tallest vertical loop.
A loud warning buzzer preceded our tug up the 143-foot-high lift. Workers laying concrete and sod Tuesday — one day before Kumba’s official kickoff — faded to ants below, and the clear day revealed a beautiful view of downtown, the Stroh’s brewery, the University of South Florida … aahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Before I could identify another landmark, our yellow train was plummeting toward the ground at speeds nearing 60 mph before lifting us into a 108-foot-loop — the first of seven aerial maneuvers during the nearly three-minute ride.
After completing my 3,978-foot journey and regaining my footing, I interviewed several members of American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE), who traveled from far and wide to enjoy Kumba. As I chatted in line with one ACE member, actor Michael Richards aka Seinfeld’s Kramer, arrived a day ahead of his scheduled grand-opening appearance for an early ride.
Richards popped a circa-1930 brown leather pilot’s cap over his unruly hair and jumped into the front seat. Being a “Seinfeld” fan, I jumped into the car behind him.
As our train peered over the lift and began the speedy 135-foot dive, Richards’ hat flew from his head — right into my outstretched hand.
Since it was my second ride, I already knew the experts’ secret — raise your hands and scream. But I never thought it would lead to a goalie-like save, to which I can forever brag to my friends, “I caught Kramer’s hat.”
As we exited the coaster, Richards bemoaned the loss of his beloved hat when I surprised him with the item, which I had thrown under one of my shoes for safe keeping during the duration of the ride.
I arrived back at the Tribune bureau and excitedly shared my story with editor Carole Tarrant, also a big “Seinfeld” fan, who encouraged me to do something I had never done before — write it up as a first-person account. I did, Carole gave it a superb edit and desk editor Kim MacCormack added the award-winning headline “KUMBA-YAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
The next day I returned to writing crime stories, but I would occasionally get to exercise my first-person chops.
During my time with Friday Extra!, the Tribune’s weekly entertainment magazine, I penned numerous music and video game reviews and authored a weekly column on quirky websites titled “Lost in Space.”
And during my dozen years with the Associated Press covering such serious topics as business, energy, tourism and politics, I managed to set aside occasional time slots to author an AP video game or tech review. I even penned an AP travel story on my 19-day trip backpacking across Europe using a train pass and staying at hostels.
First-person writing is an important part of the content landscape. Blog platforms, Substack, TikTok and other content-creation tools have widened the opportunity for people to share their voices, and that’s great.
My experience as a daily journalist and continuing work as a non-fiction author and communications professional put my focus on telling others’ narratives.
We live in a world full of remarkable people, and many of them have stories more interesting than our own. As a writer, it’s my job to bring those out, and I can always find ways to share an occasional first-person story on the side, like I’m doing here.
Getting back to my Kumba obit, the coaster will eventually be survived by a successor, Kumba’s Revenge, though an opening date is not yet set. In lieu of flowers, I will set aside some cash to ride the new Busch Gardens coaster when it opens — unless the park places me on a media emeritus guest list.
An maybe next time I’ll get to ride with Wayne Knight, aka Newman.
