By Dave Donnelly
Monday, January 13, 1997
Chris Hemmeter, Warren 'Waldo' Johnston
Chris Hemmeter, Warren 'Waldo' Johnston
YOU may well have read about the financial problems former mega-resort developer Chris Hemmeter had after leaving Hawaii. He packed off after failing to get the development rights to the Aloha Tower Marketplace, and ended up building the largest and most lavish casino anyone had ever seen in New Orleans, only to see it close almost immediately. But don't cry for Hemmeter. He just spent a very quiet vacation in the islands, and told friends he's off to Mexico to develop casinos that would make the Mayans seem like Schuler Home builders. Apparently money isn't a problem, and Hemmeter has never been shy about using other people's ... Don’t cry for Hemmeter
WRAPPING up an isle visit today is Sports Illustrated writer Ron Fimrite, who's headquartered in his hometown, San Francisco. He's been visiting with in-laws on the Windward Side but checked into the Moana long enough to watch the rain come down yesterday, giving him a perfect excuse to tune in the AFC playoffs. By the way, S.I. had players from both Carolina and Jacksonville on its current cover, hoping to break the "cover jinx" they'd continued when John Elway graced the cover prior to Denver's getting ousted. Both teams lost yesterday ...
NOT long ago I spotted Harbor Port Captain David "Kawika" Lyman driving his Nissan Pathfinder over a curb in order to fit into a downtown parking place. "Hey," I yelled at the time, "Aren't you the guy that parks the Q.E. II?" Well, this weekend he had to fly to Maui when the huge Crystal Harmony opted not to anchor off Lahaina and instead dock at Kahului due to the foul weather and heavy Kona winds. He maneuvered the ship into place, and as he was departing the ship, a woman who apparently had been downtown the day of my run-in with him shouted, "Hey, aren't you the guy who can't park his car?" ...
MY favorite Chinese restaurant in Honolulu has long been the Mandarin, once located on McCully and now on Cooke Street. Once at the restaurant I encountered John Roderick, the longtime Associated Press China hand who knew Chou En-Lai before the revolution. I asked what he was doing there and he said that anyone in Asia who knew cooking knew that the Mandarin was the place to go in Honolulu. That was the clincher. Well, the other night, a local friend took Guo Zhongshi, a former UH student, to the Mandarin and who should he meet dining there but a Beijing middle-school classmate, Zinken Woo, who is now director of the Diamond Head View Hotel. They hadn't seen each other in 20 years. Guo is now a professor of journalism in Hong Kong ... Cuisine scene
BACK from a Short visit to Thailand is Miss Hawaii Melissa Short. She was there promoting Hawaii Festivals, and reports some Hawaii expatriates were among those calling in a radio talk show on which she appeared to ask, "Is Chef Winston Gample from Kahala Caterers' preparing shoyu chicken at the festival?" and "Is there a kamaaina rate?" ...
THAT homonymph Mary George caught me manhandling the English language twice last week. Once I mentioned "Granny" and her unfortunate encounter with a ringer. Asks the former State Senator, "I wondered, while wringing my hands, if you had been able to identify her assailant as the guy in the belfry." Then I mentioned Tom Selleck's "flare" for comedy. No, he's not burning up his comedic talents, Mary, who has a flair for catching me with my snickers down ...
IT was a somber occasion at the Elks Club Saturday at services for departed member Warren "Waldo" Johnston. Such a sober aloha seemed inappropriate for practical joker Waldo. So when his widow, Pat, asked me to say a few words, I risked offending the Elks by mentioning that Waldo would have loved the irony of the rubbish truck pulling up just as his ashes were about to be spread by outrigger canoe. Other Waldo tales followed and all assured me that Waldo would have wanted it that way. Aloha, pal ... Waldo’s last ride
