Rearview Mirror hands out its awards for 2017 favorites

Each year at this time I review stories I wrote about in Rearview Mirror in the last year and pick my favorites. While the people chosen may have lived a while ago, I am honoring them now, in my small way.

A Hawaii first

I love hearing about ways that Hawaii led the nation or world, or things we should know about islanders and their accomplishments.

I knew, for example, that King David Kalakaua was the first head of state of any country to make an around-the-world trip, in 1881.

This year I found out that he was the first head of state to be honored at a White House state dinner. This dinner took place on Dec. 12, 1874, and was hosted by President and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant.

His goodwill trip to the U.S. was to lobby for better trade terms. At the time, Hawaii exports were taxed and sugar was not profitable. The trip was successful and our sugar industry took off, and that changed everything in the islands.

Visionary of the year

I was astonished to learn this year that a local man was the inspiration for George Lucas in creating the “Star Wars” movies.

His name was Joseph Campbell. He married a local girl and settled down in Honolulu in 1972. He was a top-selling author and world expert on mythology.

George Lucas read Campbell’s 1949 book, “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,” in 1975 as he was developing his story about a galaxy far, far away.

“When I started doing research on fairy tales, folklore and mythology,” Lucas recalled, “I started reading Joe’s books. I began to understand how I could make ‘Star Wars.’ It was a great gift. If I hadn’t run across it, I might still be writing ‘Star Wars’ today.”

George Lucas called Joseph Campbell “my Yoda.”

Outstanding philanthropist

I knew little about Clarence T.C. Ching when I began looking into his life.

What I found is that Ching was the person who developed the Damon Tract, Moanalua, Salt Lake, the Chinese Cultural Plaza and Kukui Gardens. He also co-founded Hawaii National Bank.

Ching died in 1985. The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation is worth over $100 million today. It has given $76 million in grants and made donations to many nonprofits, including several educational institutions.

Outstanding HPD officer

In a year of Honolulu Police Department controversies, I thought I’d highlight the career of one superlative former detective.

It started a few months ago, when I wrote about Honolulu Police detective John Jardine and how he caught the man who called himself the King of the Fleecers.

Alex Sumida said, “I think I can safely say that from 1938 until I began serving my present sentence in Oahu prison, I swindled more Honolulu people out of more money than any other person or gang in the racket.”

Jardine got him to tell his story.

John Jardine was 21 years old when he joined the Honolulu Police Department in 1923. He was promoted to detective 18 months later and solved many murder, robbery, public corruption, theft and forgery cases. He wrote about them in his book, “Detective Jardine: Crimes in Honolulu.”

Jardine retired in 1968 and was posthumously inducted into the HPD Hall of Fame in 2009.

Outstanding Career Awards

No one I can think of has had such a diverse career in Hawaii entertainment as Kimo Kahoano. He has been a dancer, singer, songwriter, television actor, host, emcee and radio station deejay.

Kahoano has been the co-star of the TV show “Hawaii Stars” for 24 years and the emcee of the Merrie Monarch Festival for 36 years.

He’s also been host of the Kodak Hula Show, a disc jockey and an actor on “Hawaii Five-0” and other TV shows. He’s the co-writer of the “Aloha Friday” song. And he’s still going strong. Good work, Kimo!

My second Outstanding Career Award for 2017 goes to Don Robbs, who retired last year after over 50 years on local radio and television.

Robbs broadcast University of Hawaii baseball for 40 years — over 2,500 games by his calculation — and he did play-by-play for Hawaii Islander baseball games when they were a local team.

In addition, he was also a news director at KPOI and KHVH radio and executive director of Hawaii Public Television.

Congratulations on an outstanding career, Don!

Contributor of the Year

Each year, I receive many stories and suggestions from readers, so I decided to give one an award this year.

Hilo resident Kenneth Fujii gave me two great stories. One was about how he learned at a family reunion that most of his immigrant ancestors were primarily coming to Hawaii to avoid being drafted into the Japanese army.

“The Meiji government exempted many young men from the draft, especially those who worked in manufacturing, railroads, construction, international trade and finance, and professionals like engineers, architects, mechanics, mathematicians and scientists.

“That left the draft-eligible men in agriculture and farming as the main source of conscripts, as well as laborers, shopkeepers and restaurant owners.

“My grandparents were almost all farmers,” Fujii said, “with a few shopkeepers. They were prime targets for the Meiji draft. So there was a big wave of applications to emigrate to Hawaii and later to other foreign lands.

“These farmers were perfect workers for the burgeoning sugar and pineapple plantations in the islands. My grandparents were among the ‘draft dodgers’ who chose to come to Hawaii rather than being drafted into the Japanese military.”

Fujii also gave me a story about what it was like at the Atherton YMCA dorm near the University of Hawaii at Manoa the week John Kennedy was killed. Many foreign students feared tanks in the streets and violence. Fujii, a resident adviser, told them it was safe. Power would be given seamlessly to Vice President Lyndon Johnson, and the students were safe.

Congratulations to all my winners, and thanks for reading Rearview Mirror.

Bob Sigall’s latest book, “The Companies We Keep 5,” has arrived, with stories from the last three years of Rearview Mirror. “The Companies We Keep 1 and 2” are also back in print. Email Sigall at Sigall@yahoo.com.