A few former board members of the now-defunct Florida Philharmonic are still furious with local critic Lawrence Johnson for several articles he wrote pointedly criticizing the organization’s management and board. In fact, a recent letter to the editor of Johnson’s paper accuses the critic of actually having contributed to the orchestra’s demise by pointing out failings rather than rallying the public to support the floundering ensemble. Johnson isn’t buying it: “Overpraising mediocrity subverts that [critical] duty and serves only to reward lazy or inept artistic leadership. When the third-rate is praised to the skies, there’s zero incentive for those organizations to ever strive to improve.”