WHEN I see one of those ten-cents-a-minute phone company commercials it reminds me what a big deal long distance was to people of my parents' generation. My mom still gets nervous after five minutes on the phone to Hawaii. Strength comes
from adversityShe grew up during the Great Depression, turned 21 two months after the Pearl Harbor attack and knew the value of a dollar. Her generation fought and won World War II (I can remember her left-over ration books), put men on the moon and led our nation to economic, military and cultural dominance.
In Hawaii, leaders from that generation long dominated the public scene: Inouye, Fasi, Ariyoshi, Bellinger, Pfieffer, Murdock and others. They turned local politics and business upside down and a sleepy agricultural backwater into a world-class resort destination.
Graham Greene wrote, ''In Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michaelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love; they had 500 years of democracy and peace -- and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.''
I don't mean to diss the Swiss, but to suggest that the succeeding generation of leaders -- on both the state and national scene -- grew up in relative peace and prosperity and don't share the advantages of being disadvantaged.
Hawaii will miss that generation of doers.
John Flanagan is editor and publisher of the Star-Bulletin.
To reach him call 525-8612, fax to 523-8509, send
e-mail to publisher@starbulletin.com or write to
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802.