Hawaii
WITH today's column, we hereby officially begin Year No. 34 of this daily dotage. You take a few days off in December, as I did, and all hell breaks loose. For starters, they've changed the year on me -- it's now 2002, something that annually befuddles check writers. Still, 2002 has to be an improvement over 2001, one of the worst in recent times. Aside from the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, and the lengthy retaliatory period, which is here and will continue, there were private losses last year, as well. I helped the widow of one of my dearest pals, Mike Sweetow, spread his ashes in Waipio Valley in January, and mourned the loss of an even older friend, Simon Cardew, in March. Fortunately I had the chance to spend a day with him in London before a 12-year-long debilitating illness finally claimed his life. As she promised then, his widow, Joan Cardew, will arrive here next month to spread his ashes off Waikiki, a wish he'd often conveyed to her. His ashes will then be mingled with those of Kimo McVay, another dear friend, who also died in 2001 ... Remembering dear friends
lost during a turbulent 2001WHILE he made it to Christmas, longtime Friendly Sons of St. Patrick member John Judge added his name to the list of those who died in 2001. He was a regular visitor to the Columbia Inn and its famed Round Table, both of which failed to last out 2001. A near miss was Frank Conkey, called "Wee Frankie" by his host of friends. In the final days of 2001, he took a fall at home and broke his shoulder. At 87 years of age, that could have been worse than it was, and he'll likely be up and still working -- he runs the College Fair annually at the Blaisdell -- before long ...
NOT among 'The Dead'
AFTER he saw HPU's production of the musical version of the James Joyce novella "The Dead," writer Jim Winpenny dropped us an e-mail to say how much he and wife Mary Winpenny, former publisher of Island Business, had enjoyed it. Moments after sending the email, Winpenny himself dropped, suffering a massive heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital where he was given a triple bypass, saving his life. As soon as he got home, he had an email from me suggesting that however much he enjoyed "The Dead," he needn't try to join the cast ...IRONICALLY, the first item of our 1997 column five years ago was also about Winpenny, and the "Christmas Miracle" he encountered days before. While chewing his prime rib at Hy's Steak House, he got a piece of meat lodged in his throat and couldn't get it out. Wife Mary was certain he was having a heart attack. But a diner at a nearby table recognized the symptoms and did a Heimlich maneuver on Winpenny, dislodging the morsel of meat and saving his life. Here's the weird part: It took place on Christmas night when the "good time" movie starring Jimmy Stewart, "It's a Wonderful Life," was being screened. It became Winpenny's favorite film, since the man who gave him the Heimlich and saved his life that Christmas night was named George Bailey, the same name as the Stewart character in the film who found himself on the side of the angels because of his good works. I suggested five years ago that in Winpenny's eyes, there may be a halo over Hawaiian Electric Co., since that's where the local George Bailey worked ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
The Week That Was recalls items from Dave's 30 years of columns.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com