Amid the outpouring of recent cancer-related confessionals, Jimmy Borges, the beloved jazz singer, admits his career and the hurrahs will not be the pinnacle of his legacy.
Instead, it is the newly established Jimmy Borges Music Scholarship for needy, local wannabe singers that will be the high note in his life. In less than a month, an impressive $300,000 has been raised to create the endowment for three scholarships next year and, hopefully, beyond.
“It’s the ribbon to the end of my rainbow,” said Borges, 80, of the new scholarship. “Cancer gives me an opportunity to add to my life — and establish help for kids. It’s a gift that will keep on giving.”
This is Borges, latest edition. Profound. Brave. Paying back. He had been privately coping with his Stage 4 lung cancer diagnosis, sharing the news with a few peers and pals (myself included) last spring when doctors told him the end — six months to a year — was imminent. “The first time I heard Stage 4, I knew I’d never, never, never forget it,” he said.
This was his second bout with cancer. Three years ago a tumor the size of a football was removed from his liver. The recent growth has been so aggressive that Borges bypassed chemotherapy in the name of dignity. “It’s all about the quality of life,” he said.
“Sure, Vicki and I cried, but I never felt sorry for myself,” said Borges. “My pace has changed; I’ve had to alter the way I sing because singing drains my energy. But I have no pain … and I’m learning how to die.”
Retired First Hawaiian Bank honcho Walter Dods corralled former Hawaiian Electric President Bob Clarke and PBS Hawaii President Leslie Wilcox to establish the Borges scholarship with the University of Hawaii Foundation and the UH music department. The entertainer did a command performance for about 50 donors at a PBS taping (which airs Jan. 21) where he confided in a roster of island A-listers that cancer was threatening his life again. That let the cat out of the bag. And checkbooks opened.
Banker Dods said that $300,000 — with a 5 percent interest rate — would return $15,000 to cover one scholarship or three $5,000 stipends starting the next academic year. “It’s a powerful tool to have a name on a scholarship,” said Dods. “I did the same thing for an immigrant scholarship for a medical student; when I had a minor stroke, the doctor I had said he went to UH medical school. It’s a great legacy.”
Clarke and Borges became friends after the former relocated to Hawaii. Clarke, a cancer survivor himself, reached out to Borges when the liver issue evolved. “I felt I could help with the journey he was facing,” said Clarke, “so when I found out his cancer had returned, I called Walter to see what we could do to help.”
Result: A scholarship was born, fueled by a common bond: Dods, other supporters and the Kalihi-bred Borges are of Portuguese descent. “I don’t know if Leslie wants folks to know, however,” Dods joked. …
FUNNY GUYS: Frank De Lima’s Christmas brunch show at noon Dec. 20 (doors open at 10:30 a.m.) at the Pagoda Hotel will mix old with new. The Christmas tree returns for his “Filipino Christmas,” but the newbies include his tribute titled “The Legend of Marcus Mariota” sung to the “Davy Crockett” theme, and “Dat’s Da Way Tings Are,” the Bruno Mars hit with the De Lima touch. Ho-ho-ho. Cost: $55 adults, $25 children 5 to 8; call 948-8370. …
Comedian Andy Bumatai’s YouTube postings of his resourceful local-style laughs, particularly a pidgin English video on Facebook, had more than a million views, likely boosted when pidgin was recently recognized as a language. His local-style lingo coupled with formal English translations are da bomb. …
And that’s “Show Biz.” …
