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I WAS tremendously honored to learn Wednesday that I was selected to receive a 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts. It was beyond my wildest dreams to gain entry to a club whose members include the greatest names in Hawaii’s entertainment and recording industry. The other honorees are Gary and Sam ‘Aiko, Israel Kamakawiwo‘ole, ‘Iwalani Kahalewai and Cyril Pahinui. Hailama Farden, chairman of the Lifetime Achievement Award committee, said I was selected because of the many columns I have written over the years relating to the local recording industry and for record liner notes I have authored. Nina Kealiiwahamana and Mahi Beamer head the panel that recommends lifetime award recipients to the HARA board of governors. Four other new recipients and I will be honored at a banquet in late April. We will also be recognized at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in late May …
GOOD GUYS: The owners of Murphy’s, J.J. Dolan’s and Ferguson’s sent $7,200 to the families of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who died battling a wildfire in Arizona June 30. Don Murphy said 100 cheeseburgers and 50 hot dogs were sold at a barbecue fundraiser outside Ferguson’s July 3, bringing in $800, and customers donated $1,000 more. The three restaurants each matched that $1,800, bringing the total to $7,200 for the victims’ families …
LEAHI SWIM SCHOOL, founded by Lori Komer, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Her son Ben Komer is now running the school. City Council members Breene Harimoto and Ann Kobayashi recognized Leahi at a July 16 ceremony at Honolulu Hale for teaching countless numbers of people to swim …
Ben Wood, who sold newspapers on Honolulu streets in World War II, writes of people, places and things. Email him at bwood@staradvertiser.com.
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