IF I could go back in time, it would be to the 1970s. Ah yes, to be a University of Hawaii student once again: the thrill of higher learning, plenty of exercise from trekking across campus, the exhilaration after exams and the absolute best deep-fried fish sandwiches at the UH-Manoa snack bar. Ann Koga Mortimer
gives back to UHBetween classes I "lived" in a dinky one-story building between Kuykendall Hall and the Campus Center -- the newsroom/office of Ka Leo O Hawaii. Like many professional journalists still toiling in this town, I learned the craft of writing, editing and yelling at reporters at the student paper, which is still publishing.
I have fond memories of the place, especially of sitting around with fellow staffers after deadline, shooting the bull and poking fun at ASUH senators and university administrators.
I never knew Ann Koga, but I understand she had fond Ka Leo memories, too. A native of Kurtistown on the Big Island, she attended UH in the 1940s and worked on the paper with people such as Tomi Kaizawa Knaefler, John Tsukano, Mary Hendrickson and Margaret Chinen.
After graduation Ann moved to New York to get an advanced degree at Columbia University. To support herself she was a dancer at the China Doll nightclub and special N.Y. correspondent for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
That's when she renewed her relationship with a longtime pen pal, Lee Mortimer, who happened to live in the Big Apple. Mortimer won fame as the Daily Mirror reporter whom Frank Sinatra slugged during a fight in a restaurant after he called the crooner a "bum" in print.
Lee was soon taking Ann with him to glitzy places such as Club 21, El Morocco and other N.Y. hot spots. He'd drink the best champagne while she drank milk. They were married in 1951.
Now let Robert K. Fukuda, Ann's former UH classmate and a former state representative, pick up the story: "Ann's life seemed comfortable and tidy, until fate wrote a cruel ending to her storybook tale. She had been a chain smoker since sitting through long meetings of the ASUH student council to write stories for Ka Leo. One day her doctor told her she had cancer of the sinus.
"Of course she underwent all the treatments known to medical science at the time. But Ann passed away in 1954, at age 28. Mortimer was devastated, and he mourned for weeks in his apartment, without seeing anyone. Finally, he brought Ann's ashes back to Hawaii and she was buried in a tiny cemetery beside the Volcano Road."
SO why am I writing about Ann Koga Mortimer now, after 50 years? This week her loyal pals from the Class of 1948 returned to the Manoa campus to present a sizable bequest in her name to the UH Foundation.
It seems when Ann died her husband started a memorial fund for her, got his friends to make donations and in 1956 gave the modest sum to Ann's Ka Leo friends.
They in turn placed it in an interest-bearing savings account, letting it grow well into five figures. The generous donation will be used to fund general scholarships for UH students, preferably those intending to major in journalism.
Wow, imagine how these former Ka Leo staffers must feel knowing that, thanks to Ann, Hawaii's next generation of journalists will be schooled. Mahalo to a lady I never met, whose legacy will grow even more fond memories of the UH campus.
What a lasting way to say thanks and aloha to a beloved alma mater.
Diane Yukihiro Chang's column runs Monday and Friday.
She can be reached by phone at 525-8607, via e-mail at
DianeChang@aol.com, or by fax at 523-7863.