Last Word: Kim Kimbrough

In July 2005, we started “The Last Word,” a column in which locals answer questions about themselves. It was patterned after Vanity Fair’s The Proust Questionnaire – which had its origins in a parlor game popularized by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that an individual reveals his or her true nature in answering these questions.

Kim Kimbrough

Inweekly, 11/10/2005

Franklin “Kim” Kimbrough III moved home to Pensacola to head the city’s Downtown Improvement Board. He brought with him an impressive set of credentials, including serving as the president of the Portland (Ore.) Business Alliance and head of the Downtown St. Louis Partnership. Kimbrough has served as the DIB executive director since September 2004. In his first year on the job, he has tackled Hurricane Ivan recovery, parking, improving downtown businesses’, enhancing aesthetics and attracting more housing opportunities to downtown. And he’s just getting started.

What is your greatest fear?
Failure.

What is the trait you must deplore?
Tie: Incompetence and unethical behavior.

Which person do you most admire?
Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Good red wine.

What is your favorite journey?
Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia in the fall.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Moderation.

When and where are you most comfortable?
Having dinner with friends and family.

Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to use those 11 years of piano lessons I took as a child.

What is your current state of mind?
Sane.

What do you consider your greatest failure?
Not finishing my doctorate at Florida State.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Not having enough volunteers for a special event.

What is your dream job?
As long as you love what you’re doing and doing it well, any job can be a dream job.

What is your most striking characteristic?
Focus, focus, focus.

What is the quality you most like in other people?
Truthfulness.

What do you most value in friends?
Loyalty.

What do you most dislike?
People who are scared to act for fear of possible failure.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
Nothing.

What have you learned in life?
Pay attention to the little things, so you can get to the big opportunities.

How would you like to die?
Of old age.

What is your motto?
Change is going to happen; we can influence it or be moved by it. The choice is ours.