[ MAUKA-MAKAI ]
Putting it IF YOU THINK there were some unhappy longtime subscribers to the Star-Bulletin the first week of our "independence" back in mid-March, just think how Herman Luke felt.
all together is
collector’s passion
Herman Luke collects
'Corky's Hawaii'COVER STORY
Gary C.W. Chun
Star-BulletinWithin the pages of his three yellowing photo albums is a history of Bulletin cartoonist Corky Trinidad's front-page "Corky's Hawaii" panel. Luke has them chronologically arranged, six a page, dating back to Corky's first panels originally printed back in August of 1994.
"I got the first edition of the first new paper," Luke remembers, sitting in the covered garage of his Aina Haina home, "but come Friday the 16th -- I don't know how many calls I made to circulation!" (Thankfully, a kind soul in the department realized his collector's dilemma and sent him her own copy.)
Luke, who will turn 75 this December, is a retiree who worked as a federal civil servant for 38 years and then, in 1983, began working as a bailiff for then-Supreme Court judge Herman Lum for 10 years. Now, "I'm free and footloose!" he joked.
COVER STORY
In fact, Luke's association with Lum introduced him to Corky's work. "The judge and I usually walked around downtown either during the early morning hours before work or on our lunch break, and this one time we went into the Ramsay Gallery on Smith Street, and it just so happened that Corky's cartoon work was being shown. The judge saw a cartoon of the local Supreme Court justices that he liked so much he bought it."What I like about Corky is the local humor," Luke said. "You don't find this kind of humor in the New York Times or the Washington Post. His artistic work is part of the Hawaii experience, and sometimes it's very timely -- he's willing to poke some people in the okole, but it's all in fun."
Luke's documentation is so thorough, that whenever Corky's vacation notices run in the paper, he makes sure to carefully cut them out to place -- just so -- in his albums.
His newspaper-cutting skills were honed when he helped the court secretary snip articles for the judge's own album. Luke is meticulous when it comes to collecting "Corky's Hawaii." Using an Exacto knife, a triangle and a glue stick, he studiously cuts out the panel from the front page, as well as the date at the top of the section that he will carefully glue right below the panel's title.
But, with the new look Bulletin, came some changes. Luke noticed that, along with a different paper stock that doesn't cut as easily as the old, "there's a quarter-inch space more cartoon," he said. Because of that, what was once a snug fit of six cartoon panels per album page is now causing a bit of overlap.
It doesn't seem to bother him, however, as long as he's able to get to the paper, usually the day after it's delivered. "My wife gets peeved at me if I take the paper away before she reads it!" he said.
Luke has actually visited Corky at his old workplace. "I just called the News Building one morning and asked for him, and he answered -- this was during the years when he had an office there, starting his work at 6 in the morning." Since the Star-Bulletin's move down the block to the Restaurant Row complex, Luke has at least been able to call Corky's home office, and is planning to attend his opening night showing at Ramsay Museum tomorrow.
But Luke is not a collector of original artwork, not even Corky's.
"I'm not that kind of person," he said with a dismissive wave of the hand. "I collect readily-available things. I'm a man of simple tastes."
Along with the accumulated clutter and disarray that's filled Luke's home and garage since he moved into the new home in 1949, the only other comic he's collected is "Prince Valiant." He spent about $400 for a 40-volume set that archived the classic Hal Foster strip.
Luke is also on a mission to collect the entire run of U.S. quarters depicting the 50 states. "Since this will go to the year 2008, maybe my goal to get them all will add to my longevity!" he said.
If you've got a collection that's noteworthy or that you're particularly proud of, drop us a line. We'd love to hear from you and share your keen eye/passion/taste or lack of thereof with the rest of our readers in our At Home section Fridays. ATTENTION PACKRATS/COLLECTORS
Write: Collector Mania, Features Department, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 7 Waterfront Plaza Suite 210, Honolulu, HI 96813, or email features@starbulletin.com.
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