Acts of Kindness

Zell Kravinsky gave millions away to save lives. ZELL KRAVINSKY DOESN'T GET IT. He has tried, he says, to live a moral life. How could he be the bad guy? Starting from nothing, he made millions -- and then gave millions away to save human lives. Then, this summer, he relinquished something more precious. He donated one of his kidneys to a stranger, a poor woman who had struggled through life. And yet, he has suffered insults and attacks -- by Internet posters, like the man who called him "a nutjob." "Generous man or heartless lunatic?" Kravinsky is befuddled. Perhaps the hostility has something to do with the way Kravinsky sneaked out of the house and to the hospital on that July morning, so that his wife, Emily -- worried that he was risking his life, fearing that one of their four children might someday need that kidney -- could not stop him. Perhaps it has something to do with some of the things Kravinsky said in the spotlight's glare. Which would, of course, be the end of Zell Kravinsky. Kravinsky has never reached that point.