Former islander
makes her markJODY WATKINS has come a long way from the early 1970s when she arrived here at 18, lived in a tent on the North Shore and served cocktails at the then new Kuilima Hotel. Today, the Delta flight attendant lives in Manhattan, speaks Nepali and Russian, is a partner in a Russian art gallery, has a degree in nursing and has run 13 marathons, the first on Maui in 1974. Asked if she had any more mountains to climb, Jody quickly answered, "I've climbed Kilimanjaro." She lived here 11 years and returned for a visit recently. Jody studied nursing at Kapiolani Community College and was a nurse at Queen's for five years. She later was hired to be nurse in Nepal. Jody studied creative writing at the U. of Utah, the Nepali language at Columbia U. and did graduate work at NYU. Flying to Russia for Delta, she became involved in the Russian art scene and imports art to America ...
The Choy of cooking
SAM CHOY kicks off the HVCB's "Chefs of Aloha, Hawaii's Cuisine on Tour" program in New Orleans Tomorrow through Friday. Sam will be assisted by sous chef Elmer Guzman. Wong joins famed chef Paul Prudhomme at K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen where they will prepare special menus for a consumer event, and a VIP-media function. Other chefs taking part in the monthly events and the cities involved, are: Russell Siu in Chicago, Roy Yamaguchi in New York, George Mavrothalassitis in San Francisco, Glenn Chu in Seattle, David Boucher in Boston, David Reardon in Los Angeles, Beverly Gannon in Dallas, James McDonald in Miami and Mark Ellman in Denver. Jean Marie Josselin prepares dinners Jan. 16-23 in Toronto and Montreal as part of the program ...TAIKO drums and Beethoven's Ninth will headline the Honolulu Symphony Concert Tomorrow and Tuesday at the Concert Hall. The Smothers Brothers present Comedy at the Pops with the Honolulu Symphony Friday and next Saturday at the Concert Hall ...
CHEERS to Halekulani G.M. Pat Tam and her staff for again winning the Automobile Association of America's Five Diamond Award for lodging and for Le Mer winning the AAA Five Diamond prize for restaurants. The hotel is the only isle property to win both awards ... TV Producer Gary Marshall filmed at the Kahala Mandarin for a Showtime documentary about romance and marriages ...
WAYNE CARTER, a fifth-grader at Assets School, turned 12 on Dec. 20 and had a sky-high birthday party on an Aloha jet. Wayne, who lives on Kauai, commutes to attend Assets in Honolulu. On a return trip, flight attendants Lark Moon, who helps Wayne with his homework, and Debi Ozawa and Ron Abel decorated the first-class section and gave Wayne an Aloha Airlines airplane alarm clock, a lei and a cake ...
Sweet victory for skaters
TWO ISLE kids received an early Christmas present, a first-place finish in ice dancing at the Pacific Coast Sectional Championships Dec. 9-10 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Alyssa Takatsuki, 11, the daughter of Paul and Dawn Takatsuki and Roosevelt senior Jonathan Ige, 17, son of Star-Bulletin staffer Marilyn Ige and her husband, Glenn, brought home the gold in Open Intermediate Dance, winning both the compulsory and free dance portions. Jonathan says he owes part of his success to the Bulletin staffers' fondness for candy, as they helped cover part of his travel costs by buying many of his fund-raising Snickers bars and M&Ms. Call it a sweet victory ...
Ben Wood, who sold the Star-Bulletin in the streets
of downtown Honolulu during World War II, writes of
people, places and things every Saturday.
His columns appear online every Monday.