Hawaii
1969: The bats won’t
stay when a woman
smokes awayTHE WEEK THAT WAS
A WOMAN PUFFING A CIGAR at Duke's the other night was asked why she smoked them. "I like them," she replied, "and they keep away bats." When told there were no bats around, she said triumphantly, "You see!" (Sept. 3, 1969) ... L.A. disc jockey Roger Carroll departed these shores Saturday to head back to the smog capital of the nation, but not without sharing this tale, and Roger swears it's true: When President Nixon was in Los Angeles not long ago, Roger's boss, Gene Autry (who owns KMPC) helped lay out a red carpet for him, and Nixon was most appreciative. He wrote a personal letter to Autry, thanking him for the display of hospitality, and ended with characteristic Nixonian hominess, "Give my best to Dale." We always thought Nixon was Trigger-happy. (Sept. 7, 1970) ...
AFTER a recent article in the Sunday paper about the proficiency with which KGMB's Joe Moore performs the "egg trick," a bit of legerdemain he'd learned from Islander GM Jack Quinn and Jim Bob Hackleman, Moore was sent a letter on a law firm's official stationary. The letter said in part that "our clients," Quinn and Hackleman, found the article to be "slanderous, defamatory, libelous, unfair and malodorous." Consequently, the official-looking letter went on, "said clients are suing you for the sum of $4,500,000 in actual damages, $9,000,000 in punitive damages and $4.88 on general principles, for slander, libel, defamation of character, mental anguish and whiplash. They also have proposed to the proper authorities that you be criminally charged with slander, libel, high mopery, conspiracy to conspire and failure to make a complete stop at a preferential intersection." The letter is signed, "With aloha and mahalo and best wishes for the holidays, Guadelupe Makamiyami, Attorney at Law." ... That'll teach Joe to do the "egg trick." (Sept. 2, 1975) ...
ABOUT 20 years ago, when the Surfrider's Captain's Galley first opened, the room's manager was Bob Burns, his No. 2 man was Tom Rohr, and one of the busboys was Ed Greene. They've all come a long way, baby: Burns is president of the prestigious Regent International Hotel chain, and one of the properties his firm will be managing is the Kapalua resort on Maui. Rohr is president of Kapalua. As for Greene, he owns the two Jameson's Irish Coffee Houses and the Merchant Square Oyster Bar, but says he still feels like the busboy of the crowd. (Sept. 2, 1980) ...
FINALLY we have something that truly could be called a "Fun Run." During the Pali-Thon Sunday, one female contestant (No. 1146) plugged in her Walkman and ran the race topless, thereby beating the heat and attracting more attention than any other contestant. She was one runner who had immediate use for the finisher's T-shirt. And in answer to your question, she wore her number on her shorts. (Sept. 4, 1984) ... David Wilson saw the item here about the woman who ran the Pali-Thon topless, and said that was nothing -- he encountered no fewer than five women competing sans tops in the Waikiki Roughwater Swim, enough to bring a blush to the face of an Englishman, which Wilson is. (Sept. 6, 1984) ...
A TRADITION continues at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel. Currently ensconced in the hotel's Kam Suite is the granddaughter of the late Jack Benny. Benny honeymooned with Mary Livingston in the same suite, and so did his daughter, Joan. Now Joan's daughter, Joanna, is enjoying the Kam Suite's unique ambience. Chances are that in another couple of decades or so, there'll be a fourth generation in the Benny clan honeymooning at the Royal. (Sept. 2, 1988) ...
JOLLY German Peter Birnbaum, who owns the Sugar Bar in Waialua, was enjoying a trip back to the old country until he picked up a copy of USA Today. Sitting in a cafe in a small town in Germany, he turned to news of Hawaii, and what did he find? A report on the driver who ran over six pedestrians in front of the Sugar Bar. Talk about putting a damper on a vacation. (Sept. 6, 1990) ...
"The Week That Was" recalls events culled from
Dave Donnelly's three-dot columns over the past 30 years.
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com