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Hawaii
THIS localite was acquainted with Presidents John Kennedy and George Bush, as well as Elvis Presley and Ed Sullivan, Gov. Ben Cayetano and even me. Tiu generous with talent
But for all her past celebrity, pianist Ginny Tiu is one of the most unpretentious people I've met. The sister of First Lady Vicky Cayetano, Ginny has performed at Buckingham Palace and Carnegie Hall, played for both Kennedy and Bush and appeared with Elvis in "Girls! Girls! Girls!" And she was on the Ed Sullivan show, playing for the very host who introduced Elvis to much of America. Ginny is a very giving person, and has agreed to perform at the three-day Down By the Sea Food & Wine Festival July 28-30 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, with all proceeds going to the nonprofit Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific ...
THEY don't have Ginny Tiu at the keyboard at Wailea's SeaWatch Restaurant. In fact, generally they don't have anyone. They have one of those digital, self-playing pianos there. But an actual pianist took to the keyboard the other night. Young Gregory Wood of Boise, Idaho, was on Maui, a gift from his grandmother before he takes off for music school in the fall. He was visiting the SeaWatch with friends from England who'd never heard him play, so he sat down at the baby grand and performed Chopin, much to the delight of the diners ...
Something "Extra"
WE'VE written about Lokelani McMichael, a five-time Ironman triathlete who appears on the current cover of Esquire as "One of America's 10 Sexiest Athletes." She was profiled last night on "Extra," the TV magazine show seen locally on K-5, but on WNBC in New York and KNBC in L.A. The Hawaii athlete also appears in the July issues of Elle and Self magazines, and she'll be doing her sixth straight Kona Ironman at the grand old age of 23 in October, and will doubtless get world-wide coverage both for her and the race itself ...RESIDENTS of One Kalakaua, the retirement residence at Beretania and Kalakaua, tossed a 62nd anniversary party for one of their own, trumpeter Johnny Morris, who's almost as old as Dixieland itself. He frequently books fellow musicians to perform there, notably pianist Martin Denny, still making magical sounds on the 88's at age 89 ... Back in town to see relatives is Peter Clark, the London actor from Hawaii. Reading here about Lolly Susi appearing with actress Helen Mirren in "Orpheus Descending" in London, Clark saw the show and agreed with critics that it was marvelous and the two had some nice moments together ...
FORMER correspondents in Vietnam during the war, journalists Bob Jones and Denby Fawcett often endured discomfort, to say the least. They're hoping for the best with their chip-off-the-block daughter, Brett Jones. Brett (Punahou '91) was graduated with honors from the international studies master's program at the London School of Economics and has been tapped by the United Nations to analyze elections in war-torn Kosovo ...
Real men drink tea
ON my first visit to Michele Henry's Tea at 1024 (Nuuanu Ave.) I mentioned I was the lone male, surrounded by 18 females. Nikki Yasutake, manager of Winterbourne, the afternoon tea room at the Waikiki Beachside Hotel, says she thinks of that comment whenever they have gentleman guests at tea. Such as when Pamela Young did a "Mixed Plate" feature for KITV on UH football players going to tea there ...
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