Legend of Duke Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and even Bugs Bunny can now make way for the "Father of Surfing."
to be enshrined
on postage stamp
The ambassador of aloha will
grace the mail starting next yearBy B.J. Reyes
breyes@starbulletin.comHawaii surfing legend and "favorite son" Duke Paoa Kahanamoku is joining the ranks of American icons gracing a U.S. postage stamp.
"In these troubled times, it's going to remind people of what Duke stood for -- to embrace the world with a lei of aloha," said Kahanamoku biographer Sandra Kimberley Hall. "It's just a simple thing, I know, but to have this winging around the world is just beautiful."
A formal announcement of the stamp was expected to come late last week but was delayed due to recent events involving anthrax, U.S. Postal Service spokesman Don A. Smeraldi said yesterday.
He said the stamp's tentative release date is Aug. 24, 2002, Kahanamoku's birthday.
Honolulu-born Kahanamoku (1890-1968) was 21 when he won the first of his four Olympic gold medals. He won worldwide fame as a swimmer and surfer, appeared in about 30 movies and was sheriff of Honolulu for 26 years. His statue on Waikiki Beach is a landmark and he's considered by many to be an embodiment of aloha.
Family members, friends, organizations and members of Hawaii's congressional delegation have for years lobbied for a stamp to honor Kahanamoku.
"Our long efforts have been worthwhile," said Don Gallagher, a volunteer with the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Surfrider Foundation. "A stamp assures Duke an important place in American history."
The portrait of Kahanamoku -- arms crossed and standing before a background of surfers near Diamond Head -- was done by artist Michael J. Deas, whose body of postage stamp art includes images of Monroe, Dean and Humphrey Bogart, Smeraldi said.
Others being honored with commemorative stamps in 2002 include escapist Harry Houdini and pop culture artist Andy Warhol.
"It's a postage stamp, but it's more than that," Hall said yesterday after viewing the stamp. "(Kahanamoku) is synonymous with Hawaii. He introduced what is the best of Hawaii to the rest of the world.
"In other words: Duke lives."