Studs Terkel, author and oral historian, died recently. He wrote eloquently about the lives of ordinary people. News of his death transported me back into the past.

During the mid-1960s, I was a student at the University of Hawaii. I was young and full of enthusiasm, idealism and optimism. The future looked bright and promising.

To help pay for my education, I worked part-time at a dental supply company on Hotel Street. I met many dentists while working in this job. Some of them were actually interesting. Dr. Ed Nakata visited our office from time to time to pick up supplies. His office was located just down the street. With his large expressive eyes, glasses and short hair, he simply looked interesting. His sense of humor, storytelling skills and sharp wit were captivating. He couldn't resist telling jokes. (”;What do you do when your nose goes on strike? You pick it.”;) OK, some of his jokes were corny. But it was the way he told his jokes - his voice, gestures and the twinkle in his eyes - that made them funny. Yes, there is such a thing as an interesting dentist.

Dr. Nakata was in joint practice with his father, whom I had never met. One day I was asked to deliver a package of dental supplies to his office. The wooden floor creaked as I slowly entered. It was a spacious but old office the looked liked it was equipped and furnished in the 1930s. I was instructed to place the package on the front counter because the doctor was busy with a patient.

As I was leaving, I noticed that there was someone in the waiting room. I guessed it was Dr. Nakata's father. He was a frail, elderly man sitting quietly in a dimly lit corner of the waiting room. When he saw me, he smiled and gave me a friendly nod. It was only a brief and fleeting encounter, but an image of the quiet old man lingered in my mind. I hurriedly left the bleak office and stepped out onto the bright, sunlit street. As I walked back to my working place, I thought about the old man. I felt sorry for him. His life must have been tedious and monotonous. Imagine looking into the mouths of people all day long for so many years. Poor man.

  Several months later, I was leisurely reading the newspaper. I got to the obituary page, and was about to turn to the sports section when something caught my eye.

The obituary announced that Yoshimatsu Nakata, retired dentist, had passed away. It gave a brief account of his life. As a youth in the early 1900s, he had been a cabin boy for Jack London, the great writer and adventurer. He had sailed the South Pacific with London, who gathered material for his books and stories about Polynesia. This adventure on the high seas lasted about two years. Yoshimatsu also had been London's personal valet. London treated him like a son, and helped pay for his education, which enabled Yoshimatsu to become a dentist. His life story as outlined in the obituary was a surprising revelation. He was a free spirit. As a young man, he led an adventurous life working for one of America's greatest writers. Amazing. I was proud of the old man.

Yoshimatsu Nakata was an ordinary man. Despite this, he had a remarkable, colorful and interesting life. He was never interviewed by Studs Terkel. This is unfortunate. It would have been a fascinating conversation.