Hawaii
OK, let's get this straight. Actress Kelly Preston was not a track star at Kaiser. Far from it. She was a gymnast at Punahou. Straight scoop on Preston
Well, I know she wore shorts. This comes straight from her mom, Linda Carlson, who flew off to L.A. for the Sept. 17 premiere of Kelly's new film, "For the Love of the Game," yet another baseball epic featuring Kevin Costner who must really love the game. The film will have its island premiere later in the month, but no word on whether Kelly or her ever busy husband, John Travolta, will be here for that. Pilot Travolta could merely hop into his own plane and fly in should he choose to. And just to complete the story, their son, Jett, seems to take after mom in at least one respect -- he, too, is a gymnast, though he's only 7 years old
ANOTHER island woman who's made quite an upwardly mobile move in showbiz is ex-KHNL weatherperson Maria Quiban. She was spotted last week on KGMB, not doing the weather, but as an actress in an episode of "The Young and the Restless." And while Maria had done some local theater, notably at Kumu Kahua, she was best known for her local TV work, which come to think of it was a natural proving ground for "The Young and the Restless." ...
THE local author who can't seem to avoid monitoring the misspellings in the bottom of the screen graphics on KITV checks in with the latest: "Severence" for severance. "And," he adds, "the beet goze on..." ...
Birthday memory
THE children of Barbara Tam Ching, former Liliha Neighborhood Board member, had taken over much of the Hong Kong Harbour View Restaurant to hold a 70th birthday celebration for their mom. A single section of the restaurant not used by the Ching party was assigned to a group of Japanese tourists. One of the birthday girl's daughters, Diane Lynne Ching, had invited a number of her Punahou Class of '80 grads to the party, when suddenly she saw a familiar face in the crowd. It was Mark Yim, her old boyfriend, who'd taken her to her junior and senior prom. Diane, who's now living in Philadelphia and is happily married to a fellow pediatrician, asked herself, "Did I invite him?" Her brother spotted Mark and asked him to sign in at the registration table. Well, it turns out that Yim was with the group of Japanese tourists, bringing a sigh of relief to Diane. And it was only when mom was going through the photos of the occasion that she spotted a shot of two little girls she didn't recognize. Turns out they were Yim's daughters. Ah yes, one for the memory book ...
Ho boy
MY neighbor, Denise Crosby, was so stoked by the Kenny Rogers show that she e-mailed pals across the island recommending they take in the second show Saturday night. Crosby got into it from the beginning, completely taken in by the jazz singing of Melveen Leed to open the show and a musical tribute to Don Ho by the Honolulu Symphony, conducted by Matt Catingub. She was so into things that when Catingub asked if Ho were in the audience, he rose to take a bow and Crosby discovered he was seated directly next to her. She hadn't even noticed ... Speaking of Ho, he'll be making a rare radio appearance tomorrow between noon and 2 p.m. on Bob Hogue's new KCCN show. Listeners are encouraged to call in with questions. One sure way to get Ho alert is to ask about the blossoming recording career of his daughter, Hoku ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com