Superheroes
The six individuals being honored as Alameda community humanitarians in “Local Heroes” may not wear capes, be faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive or able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but what they do is every bit as inspiring as the original superhero, Superman.
Freelancers Katherine Kam and Julia Park Tracey tell the inspiring tales of these six Alamedans—Vickie R. Smith of the Alameda Unified School District; Paul Russell of the Alameda Food Bank; the Rev. Michael Yoshii of Buena Vista United Methodist Church; Bill Sonneman, former Encinal High School principal; Jenny Gant, a youth volunteer for the American Red Cross; and George Phillips of the Boys & Girls Club of Alameda. All give generously and selflessly in the spirit of making the Island a better place.
For Smith, care receivers are kids in need at school, territory familiar to Sonneman, who galvanized Jet pride as principal. Russell tends to Alamedans who don’t have enough to eat, while Yoshii ministers to his church members and strives for social justice for all. Gant puts her energy in Red Cross volunteering, a passion she developed in high school, and Phillips has his heart in the betterment of Alameda’s at-risk youth.
While the work they do is superheroic, these heroes and heroines would beg to differ, modestly countering that they are but ordinary people setting
goals and achieving them as any mortal can. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to take up some of their causes.
One cause that several Alamedans, including Gold Coast resident Elizabeth Lassen, took up years ago was opposition to the filling in of Alameda’s south shore. Fifty years ago, millions of tons of fill replaced those San Francisco Bay tidelands, erasing bayfront views and replacing the shore with the lagoon system and tract homes known today. Freelancer Mary McInerney traces the bitter land-development fight from a historical standpoint.
Much of this December issue is devoted to our ever-growing annual East Bay Medical Guide, which offers the latest on health matters ranging from vision correction to cosmetic dentistry to hypertension. A major component of the guide is “The East Bay’s Best Doctors.” Is your physician one of the 206 on the list? Two Alameda physicians are. Medical writer Susan E. Davis interviews five of the top docs, sitting down to question them about major developments in their fields. The guide also contains a directory of East Bay–based hospitals and a comprehensive physicians directory. Our hope is that Alameda Magazine readers will keep the Medical Guide on hand all year long as a go-to medical resource and an insurance policy for continued good health.
Judith M. Gallman
judy@alamedamagazine.com
