COURTESY ANN MCCORMACK
Ann McCormack and Don Ho enjoyed a long friendship and sang together many times over the years.
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50 great years of singing with Don Ho
The first time I sang with
Don Ho was at his mother's club, Honey's, more than 50 years ago. Don was a handsome young man, laid-back and comfortable with himself. He sang easy and people loved it.
Over the years Don and I sang together many times. The second time he was already becoming well known in Hawaii. I had just returned from Australia with the Frank Sinatra show. Frank and I stopped in to see Don as we both loved and admired him.
When my husband, Paul Livermore, and I opened a club in Waikiki called "The Embers," I sang there every night. After my last show I usually rushed over to Don's show and we sang together. In Las Vegas, where I now reside, Don had me as his guest when he sang at the Orleans Hotel Casino. We enjoyed making music: Don very soft, and me very loud. Our audiences loved us, we had great times that I shall always remember and miss Don. About eight months ago was the last time we sang together. I was in Hawaii to visit my actor son, Don Stroud.
From now on I know that every time I sing Kui Lee's song "I'll Remember You," I will be thinking of Don; God bless!
Ann McCormack
Las Vegas
Is uranium underfoot?
Thank you for printing the article about depleted uranium in Hawaii ("Concern rising over uranium at Schofield,"
Star-Bulletin, April 14). We have a right to know if we are being exposed to this deadly airborne contaminant. Please folks, call the governor and urge her to sign House Bill 1452 for the testing of this substance on Oahu.
As for the rest of the islands, well, tough luck, as usual. If depleted uranium already has been found on Oahu, it is likely on our island, too. I guess the Big Island is too far away to worry about. To any legislators who voted against this bill ... thanks for your concern.
Shannon Rudolph
Kona, Hawaii
Help sustain planet: Eat locally grown food
I agree that if you like to eat, you should thank a farmer, but look at your next plate lunch and try to pick out what was produced locally (
"Gathering Place," April 14). Eating imported food, domestic or international, processed or not, organic or not, is an unsustainable act. The import of food requires the use of petroleum products. Petroleum is a finite resource. Growing food requires a large input of petroleum products in the form of fertilizers and pesticides. The import of food results in the export of environmental impacts to the food-producing region. That is irresponsible and insulates us from the true cost of food.
The solution is to buy local at every opportunity and support local food production. We need to buttress ourselves from the effect of shipping strikes, rising petroleum costs and the vagaries of a long supply line. And take responsibility for the environmental effects we cause in the pursuit of the good life.
Charles Ka'ai'ai
Kailua
HMSA helps save lives with bone marrow
On behalf of the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry, I wanted to express how much the Hawaii Medical Service Association has done to support us these past few years. While we receive funds from the National Marrow Donor Program for our operation expenses, special programs including education and community awareness campaigns become difficult to provide without charitable donations.
HMSA has provided substantial grants for us to educate students and the community about the importance and need for bone marrow donors. It has also provided ad space in its Island Scene magazine, and donated invaluable radio and television airtime. Because of HMSA's generosity, more people in our community are now educated and registered with the Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry and helping to save lives.
We appreciate the support we have received, and continue to receive, from HMSA.
Renee Adaniya
Hawaii Bone Marrow Donor Registry
It couldn't happen to a nicer coach
Congratulations to the very loyal and very classy Bob Nash after being named as the new University of Hawaii's men's basketball head coach. The good guys finally won one. It proves that nice guys really do finish first!
Bob Hogue
Kailua
Aftermath of tragedy
Help is available for those who grieve
The trauma our nation has experienced at Virginia Tech University is one that scars the souls of those involved for a lifetime. The healing process is lengthy and painful.
I am the lead psychologist for the federal Western Regional Disaster Mortuary Assistance Team for mass casualty incidents, specializing in post-traumatic stress disorder. My psychological media team and I would like to share with all who have lost loved ones through this tragedy our Web site: www.lifehut.com/reflectionsvid.html. There you will find a 20-minute video titled "A Time For Reflection," which deals with the loss of a loved one. This site carries no registration and no fees. It is our gift of aloha to those in time of need.
Our hearts go out to those affected families. We are well aware of the depth of their suffering.
Richard M. Sword
Makawao, Maui
Being an immigrant can be difficult
I send my utmost condolences to all the victims' families and friends and faculty members of Virginia Tech.
Immigrating to this country isn't easy, especially for young people. Coming from a small country, New Zealand, when I was 17 years old was like walking on the moon. I had never been so scared in my whole life. I returned home at 18 to be with family and friends in my country.
Now, some 10 years later, at the age of 33, being a legal permanent resident of the United States for the past fours years has still had its difficulties -- the most challenging being my Kiwi accent. I am fortunate to have my lovely husband, for without his words of encouragement, it would have been very difficult.
God bless all the students, young people and children of America. May we make them all feel welcomed and accept them. God bless America.
Zara Smith
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
State should allow us to defend ourselves
Because of what happened at Virginia Tech, a hue and cry has begun for more gun control. But what is gun control? Is it the wrongful use of a piece of metal or is it controlling the actions of people?
Gun control is telling people what they can and cannot own. Gun control is telling people that they have no right to self-defense. Gun control is the cat telling the mouse, "I'll protect you."
In 2006, Larry Hincker, spokesman for Virginia Tech, praised the defeat of a bill in the Virginia legislature that would have allowed a person with a concealed-carry permit to carry his firearm for self-defense on all Virginia public college campuses. Might the outcome have been different if only one student were armed and shot back in self-defense?
Hawaii's gun control laws make its people perfect victims. The legislators trust you to vote for them, but they don't trust you to defend yourself or your family. Neither does the police department.
How many of you are willing to bet your lives that the police would save your life in a similar situation? After all, the Supreme Court has stated that the police do not have a duty to protect you, as an individual, but only society as a whole.
A Fort Worth, Texas, school district teaches its students to fight back and rush the attacker. They feel that it is better to lose a few students in an attack than to lose ALL the students. In 1998, an Oregon high school student charged and took down an armed gunman who killed several people. He was shot in the chest, but he saved a lot of lives.
So we have a choice: fight back and survive, or be the next victim to die.
Vernon Okamura
Honolulu
Outlaw guns and killers won't get them
The carnage at Columbine is a fading memory and a dozen lesser slaughters are already forgotten. Now more than 30 young people are gunned dead in Virginia. Like bombs in Baghdad, the outrages just get worse. What's next? A crowded theater, a sports arena -- the Superbowl?
There is only one way to stop the killing: Congress must outlaw the private ownership of handguns in America.
When responsible people lay aside the right to own handguns, most killers won't get guns either. This policy has already dramatically limited gun violence in most of the civilized world.
The recent film "Amazing Grace" told the story of William Wilberforce, a man of uncommon character, grit and courage. He led and won an uphill fight in the British Parliament against the brutal slave trade. He became a celebrated hero in a far better world.
The problem of handgun control now needs a political hero like Wilberforce. A hero like you. Regardless of how strong the opposition and how long the odds, this is a battle worth all it could cost. Think of the lives to be saved.
Lawmakers, please sponsor and pass a bill to outlaw private handguns. Look at the faces of the dead. Be a force!
Denny L. Bales
Honolulu
Somebody should have been able to stop it
My heart goes out to the families and friends of those at Virginia Tech whose lives were tragically taken away last week. I pray they will find strength and healing in their support systems.
And I feel sad for Cho Seung-Hui; he wasn't an evil monster (he did an evil, monstrous act). He was a person -- a human with a broken mind and an empty heart.
It disappoints me to hear and read about those who knew him and noticed he was lonely and disturbed and say in hindsight that they wouldn't have done anything different. That's really sad and scary.
Patrick Nakamura
Aiea
Search inside to find sense in tragedy
Viewing the rantings of the mass murderer of 32 innocents on the campus of Virginia Tech University left little doubt of the existence of evil. The immediate reaction is to ask, "Where was God?" and "If there is a God, how could he allow something like this to happen?" These types of questions are inevitable. But to acknowledge God's existence is to realize that though our time here on Earth is finite, our soul and spirit are eternal. In the aftermath we will have the opportunity to hear the survivors of this heinous act tell their personal account of what went on.
I am sure that through these testimonies we will find that God indeed was there and will continue to be there providing comfort and encouragement to grieving family members and friends. We pray that the Lord gives you the strength to carry on as we appreciate life just a wee bit more.
Norio Hataye
Kaneohe