Frances Kirk, longtime manager of the Society of Seven and a former entertainment director at the Outrigger Hotel, has put pen to paper to tell her story and theirs in "The Society of Seven: Last of the Great Show Bands" (Legacy Isle Publishing).
It’s an intimate tale of two entities defying the odds, with Kirk describing her efforts to launch, book, promote and ultimately manage anunknown group with origins in Hong Kong and the Philippines. The journey covers the growth and popularity of a show band like no other, which ultimately gained fan bases in key cities such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Honolulu.
"The question I get asked most is, Who wrote the book?" says Kirk. Well, she did, maintaining journals for years with precise recall and relying on inspired input from SOS co-founders Tony Ruivivar and Bert Sagum, who were eager to finally share their life story alongside hers.
Kirk is huddling with her book editor, Annette Tellis, who is visiting this week, and they’re working with Carole Kai, founder of the Great Aloha Run, to include the book as part of the charity event’s 30th-anniversary celebration in February.
Further, Dr. Richard R. Kelley, chairman emeritus of Outrigger Enterprises Group, reached out to his niche audience — the visitor industry community — via his Saturday Briefing blog post on the book this weekend. After all, Kirk and the SOS established the Outrigger Waikiki’s Main Showroom as the go-to showplace for locals and visitors for about four decades.
The SOS will be in town in early December for four gigs on Kauai (I’ll share details next week), wherethey’ll surely talk up the book.If you remember, Kirk managed to book the SOS (known then as the Fabulous Echoes) on CBS’ "Ed Sullivan Show." You might say she evolved as a fairy godmother to these Cinderfellas. …
MOMENTS TO REMEMBER: For TV icon Emme Tomimbang, it was the ultimate "moment":A tribute Nov. 9 at the FilCom Center raised more than $100,000 for the Waipahu complex. "I was overjoyed with the outpouring of love and music, food and tributes," she said.
Indeed, the Bayanihan spirit ruled as stories were shared and the music wowed. There was a presidential moment, too, when Maya Soetoro-Ng delivered a personal message from her brother, President Barack Obama, mentioning he recalled watching "Emme’s Island Moments" while at Punahou School, and how Tomimbang helped Soetoro-Ng and Obama during his first campaign and lent her kokua for his grandmother Madelyn Dunham‘s funeral at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl. Of course, Tomimbang sang her signature "Girl from Ipanema," with an assist from Jimmy Borges.
The crowd chortled when D.K. Kodama remembered taking her to seek out a Vera Wang designer wedding gown in New York for his then-fiancee, and how Tomimbang told him she knew a Filipino lady in Kalihi who could replicate the gown at a much better price. (For photos of the event, visit honolulupulse.com.) …
DATES TO CIRCLE: Lehua Kalima, Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning singer-composer-musician and a member of Na Leo Pilimehana, will be a guest artist at "A Cazimero Christmas," Robert and RolandCazimero‘s annual yuletide hoopla at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and 14 and 2 p.m. Dec. 15 at the Hawaii Theatre. Robert’s Halau Na Kamalei o Lililehua and the Royal Dance Company also will perform, along with a pair of keiki hula wizards: JeslieAnn Pavao and Luke Hunadi from Halalu Ka Lei Mokihana o Leinaala of Kauai. Go to hawaiitheatre.com. …
The second annual Jake Shimabukuro & Friends concert will be 8 p.m. Nov. 30 at Blaisdell Concert Hall. Get tickets at ticketmaster. com. …
And that’s "Show Biz."…
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Wayne Harada is a veteran entertainment columnist; reach him at 266-0926 or wayneharada@gmail.com; read his Show and Tell Hawaii blog at www.staradvertiser.com.
