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
Editor’s note: Keith Haugen was a Star-Bulletin staffer for 10 years in the 1960s and ‘70s. He was state editor when he was appointed to Gov. George R. Ariyoshi’s staff as director of information in 1977. A musician and songwriter, he now teaches Hawaiian language at Star of the Sea Schools.
Memories ... thousands of them ... 300 pages of them ... 700 photos in color and black-and-white ... five pounds of memories.
It’s a new coffee table book called Hawai`i 50, five decades of Honolulu Star-Bulletin photography.
And for me it is chickenskinkine memories.
The book is divided up into five decades, from 1959 to the present. Statehood pictures in that first chapter remind me that it was 50 years ago I first arrived at the old Honolulu Airport, in the Territory of Hawai`i, as a young Army photographer. That was 1958.
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It’s clearly a book for everyone. You might see yourself in a picture. Thousands of folks will. You might see family, friends, neighbors or classmates. You almost certainly will see people you know, famous and not so famous. Everyone will find something in this book to which they can relate.
For me, it brought back memories of when I applied to join the Star-Bulletin staff in 1961, ‘63 and again in 1966. (I don’t give up easily.) And when I approached managing editor Hobe Duncan in July 1967 and again asked for a job - only to be told that I was a day late; he had just hired Bob Young. It also reminded me that a year later Hobe offered me a job as a reporter covering Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i and Kaho`olawe. I left journalism school to accept the offer, and recall the many assignments I covered with Star-Bulletin photographers Terry Luke, Al Yamauchi, Warren Roll, John Titchen and many other superb cameramen, including Bob Young, after I moved from Maui to Honolulu in 1970. They were some of the greatest, and their pictures are all over the pages of this new book.
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Many years later, after we had become good friends, Hobe told me that Bob was a better photographer than I. And I agreed.
I saw many pictures that were taken when I stood by the photographer’s side, taking notes so that I could write the story, and their photo captions. Memories took me back to many historic events, some of which will be special to so many others as well.
The 1960s and ‘70s chapters of the book are the most special for me, because it was during those decades I was a Star-Bulletin staffer. But as I found my way into the more recent decades, I realized there are pictures throughout the book that also jog my memories.
As one interested in and involved in many things that have made the past five decades part of our unique history, I realized there was scarcely a page that did not bring back fond memories.
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I thought about the stories told in the pictures, the people who were making the news and those who were recording it for posterity. Names came back to me, reminding me of players on this great stage who are long since gone.
Even if you are younger than I or moved here more recently, there is excitement in reminiscing about the old days. Or if you are a frequent or even a first-time visitor to our Islands, this is a book you will want to show to guests who come to your home.
It’s a wonderful Christmas gift.
From the 29 carefully selected photos on the colorful dust cover, and the dozen-and-a-half front pages inside the cover and scattered throughout the book, there are striking photographs that will make you want to bring out the magnifying glass to look for someone special.
There was Walter Ritte heading for the courthouse. I testified in that hearing.
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There’s even a photo of the “Boys Will Be Girls” marquee in Chinatown. I remember taking my mother to see that show. I know she never forgot it.
I still have my copy of that famous red, white and blue Star-Bulletin edition of March 12, 1959, with a headline that reads, simply, “STATEHOOD.”
A Keith Haugen photo of Harry Hasegawa reminded me I still have the “Hasegawa General Store” sheet music I bought the day I took that picture in the Hana, Maui, store made famous in the song by composer Paul Weston. That was in 1970, and the music sheet still has an 85-cent price sticker on it. And under a June 4, 1976, Page One headline that read “Hokule`a Arrives in Tahiti” was a byline that reads “By Keith Haugen, Star-Bulletin Writer.”
AJan. 3, 1977, Page One headline “Waiahole Gets Eviction Order,” carried my byline too. I remember how difficult it was to remain objective on that story.
Pictures of Duke Kahanamoku reminded me of when we met in 1963, and that it was only a few years ago that I gave his autograph (on my business card) to Carl Rainear, a friend and collector of Hawaiian memorabilia in New Jersey. There are pictures of the imploding of the Waikiki Biltmore in 1974 and, later, the Kaiser Hospital on Ala Moana Boulevard.
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