Duke Kahanamoku
Duke exemplified
By Greg Ambrose
spirit of aloha
Special to the Star-Bulletin"OF all the industrialists, political leaders and others who have gained fame in Hawaii, no one looms greater than Duke Kahanamoku," says Fred Hemmings Jr., a world champion surfer and former state legislator who spent treasured time with his idol.
"He is the man of the century for Hawaii simply because he embodied in his life everything that is the best in these islands we call home."
The young Hawaiian astonished the world with his gold medal swimming success in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. Suddenly, the whole world was watching him and judging his exotic, remote island home by how he acted. And he acted magnificently.
"Duke perpetuated his Hawaiian culture and all that is great about Hawaii by living it," says Hemmings. "Not by preaching it or militancy or activism. Simply by living in the most gracious manner with the spirit of aloha. There is a great lesson in that."
"No matter where he went, Duke stood out, and was a special human being," says George Downing, who spent time with Duke as a beachboy in Waikiki.
"Of all the people in this century from Hawaii, he was the most outstanding. He touched the most lives in the most ways.
"It's a combination of a lot of things, his success in Olympic swimming, his introduction of the Hawaiian sport of surfing to Australians, Californians and the East Coast, and his recognition for the rescue of more than a dozen fishermen off Redondo Beach in California. He spread the true aloha spirit throughout the world."
"His fame drew attention to Hawaii, and put Hawaii on the map," says Grady Timmons, author of "Waikiki Beachboy."
"He was the first real Hawaiian in the 20th century that emerged onto the world scene. Duke at that time was a symbol for Hawaii."
And Duke remains a symbol of Hawaii three decades after his death.
"Duke is coming into his own right now," says Glenn Moncata, who is directing a contest in Duke's honor in Waikiki this month. "His name has been around for a long time, but in the last five years, because surfing has grown so much as a mainstream sport worldwide, Duke's name is being respected even more.
"I don't know if kids in Hawaii know what Duke did in spreading aloha and surfing around the world. But I hope that with the increased publicity, they will take pride in what their ancestor did."
