Hawaii
A P.R. MAN who can't talk? Well, almost! First Hawaiian Bank's Walter Dods has what his doctor describes as "permanent hoarseness," apparently from talking too much. Guess that means he's really been doing his job. (Aug. 5, 1970) ... As P.A. announcer John Spierling climbed out of Gordon Damon's helicopter at Mokuleia prior to the polo match yesterday, he hunched over, apparently afraid that the chopper blade was lower than it was. "Why is John walking like that?" a bystander asked. "He ALWAYS walks like that," deadpanned Charles Pietsch. (Aug. 9, 1971) ... 1970: Bank prolocutor
Walter Dods goes
sotto voceTHERE were no cheers in the Star-Bulletin city room yesterday as Richard Nixon announced on TV he was quitting. That may come as a bit of a surprise to those people who feel that the "liberal press" did Nixon in. But the cluster of reporters and editors who put aside their work to watch what they knew was coming was as quiet as they would have been had hey watched a man who had hanged himself suddenly stop swinging. It was an historic moment and all here who were watching knew it and looked on in silence. At the end of the President's statement we all returned to the work at hand - getting out the extra headlined "Nixon Quits." And so it goes. (Aug. 9, 1974) ...
JOVIAL Gus Guslander, the hotel exec who makes it a habit of getting off to an early start with a 4 a.m. walk, reports that the Kalakaua streetwalkers are getting so used to seeing him at that hour that they no longer approach him to ask if he wants a "date." ... The cheering was so intense, and the calls for encores so persistent from the overflow audience applauding the Sons of Hawaii at their brief Waiakea Village engagement, that at one point, Number One Son Eddie Kamae actually broke into tears on stage. They were tears of joy, to be sure, so happy was Kamae to be performing for the largely local and overwhelmingly appreciative Hilo audience. (Aug. 9, 1877) ...
WHILE Canlis' boss Dave Hill and his wife were celebrating their 25th anniversary with a dinner at Michel's, Hans Strasser of Michel's fame was - where else? - dining at Canlis' . (Aug. 6, 1978) ... There's a fascinating check framed and hanging on the wall of Boyd's. It was written by Ray Sweeney and made out to San Francisco hooker honcho Margo St. James for a total of $61. "Never let is be said that Sweeney doesn't tip," quipped barkeep Mickey Hummer. Sweeney's story (and he's sticking with it) is that the money was collected y Exchange Club members to pay St. James for a speech she delivered to the group. (Aug. 9, 1979) ...
AT long last James MacArthur will be playing the lead role of Hildy Johnson in "The Front page," the 1928 comedy of newspapering written by his father, Charles MacArthur, and collaborator Ben Hecht. The former "Hawaii Five-O" regular will be appearing in a production of the play at Stanford Theater in Palo alto, Calif., and it should be a double thrill. He also controls the rights to the play and collects royalties from productions of it. (This one, however, is for charity.) (Aug. 5, 1981) ... A clever cake was unveiled in the Star-Bulletin city room yesterday for departing stiffer Herman Leong, who's entering a seminary. The cake depicted him in a priest's garb and carrying a newsboy's bag with the inscription, "Spreading the Good Word." (Aug. 11, 1983) ...
IT was no surprise to me that the first day of angling in the billfish tourney in Kona produced more fish than all of last year's action. You may recall the report here that organizer Peter Fithian had a bumper crop of mangos in his bellwether tree this year. In past years he found that when there was a plethora of mangos, there were also a great many fish caught in the tourney. Looks like the magic mango tree has proved to be a prophet once again. (Aug. 6, 1986) ...
TUESDAY is ladies' night at Malia's Cantina, but since the liquor commission has ruled nightclubs cannot discriminate on the basis of "race, religion, ancestry or sex," they can't resort to the old policy of giving a break on the cover charge for wahines. The Lewers Street club ha some resourceful owners, however. From now on, the Cantina is making it a policy that on ladies' night, the cover charge is knocked in half for anyone wearing lipstick! As a spokesman for the club put it, "Equality of the sexes indeed." (Aug. 9, 1991) ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com