Picture This
A former newsman takes a look at a new book showcasing 50 years of great photographs in the Star-Bulletin. Memories ..thousands of them..300 pages of them..700 photos in color and black-and-white..five pounds of memories. Hawaii 50 Book order here
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It was the first time I’d ever seen anything like that and it was awesome. And there are pictures of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where my wife, Carmen, and I sang for 17 of our 35 years performing in Waikiki.
`Ukulele virtuoso Eddie Kamae is pictured, reminding me of when Carmen and I used to perform with the Sons of Hawai`i, and when Eddie and his wife, Myrna, and the Sons were our witnesses when we married 30 years ago at Kepaniwai in Iao Valley.
When I saw a picture of Michelle Wie, I remembered teaching her music for five years at Star of the Sea School and what a talented young actress she was when we had classroom talent contests. She and a couple of classmates, who all watched Korean soap operas (in Korean), would act out a skit from a current episode (in English). They were terrific and great examples to their classmates. Yes, she was already a golfer, playing with her mom.
Seeing a photo of the original Makaha Sons of Ni`ihau reminded me of when Carmen and I crashed a party at Daikoku Catering to catch their act, and how I said they were good, but their name was too long and they would have to dress better if they expected to get a gig in Waikiki.
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Pictures of Dan Inouye reminded me of photos I took of him when he made his first trip to Japan as the first American of Japanese Ancestry ever elected to the U.S. Congress.
Seeing Chuck Leahey brought back memories of the last event in the old Termite Palace (Honolulu Stadium). He emceed; we sang.
Then there was Jesse Kuhaulua, Carmen’s cousin, and the first foreigner to win a grand sumo tournament. I recall when he arrived in Japan and we used to visit and photograph him at his training stable and invite him to our Hawaiian club luaus.
The book is filled with names and faces, the things that make newspapers human.
Here are a few of those featured in the book. But you’ll have to go to the book to find out why they were included and what they looked like back then: Amanda Puamohala Weinstein, Frank Sinatra, Chinn Ho, Lehua Velasco, Harry Weinberg, Hannah Niau, Jennie Wilson, John F. Kennedy, Alana Dung, John A. Burns, Maile Lee, Ringo Starr, Iolani Luahine, Don Ho, Jesse Kuhaulua, Mary Kawena Puku`i, Lippy Espinda, Genoa Keawe, Gabby Pahinui, Jean King, Sid Fernandez, Curtis Iaukea, Ron Reagan, Ron Rewald, Cheech & Chong, the Makaha Sons, the Fabulous Five, the Beamers, Annette Miyashiro, Bishop Estate trustees, Keiko Price, Irmgard Aluli, Iz, Asia Leong, Colt Brennan, George Lu, Chris Kamaka, Bishop Chikai Yosemori, Carla Watase, governors, mayors and thousands more.
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There are pictures of runners, statues, dancers, leis, old folks, children, beaches, pineapples, sumo, steamer day, volcanic eruption, surfing, old buildings, aloha shirts, flowing lava, Honolulu Stadium, fish markets, Kodak Hula Show, Crater Festival, taro, paddlers, hurricanes, sunbathers, sunsets, Aloha Tower, a pig head, schools, police, firefighters, old cars, dogs, horses, Club Hubba Hubba, bodybuilders, pageants, floods, Marines, Hawaiian monk seals, politics, landscapes, and hundreds more subjects in hundreds of great pictures.
Billed also as a “community album,” this great collection of news photos and more is published by Mutual Publishing.
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