Leslie Wilcox Blogs

Aunty Genoa--Holding the High Note

     "I love you, dear."

      Those were the last words spoken to me by Hawaiian singer Genoa Keawe, at a gathering some months ago. I wasn't a family member or a close friend--just an acquaintance and fan. But Aunty Genoa had love to share, even after lavishing love on her large extended 'ohana.

       She kept aloha in her heart as purely as she held a sweet falsetto note.

       Aunty Genoa died in her sleep Monday at age 89.

       That evening, we at PBS Hawaii pre-empted a half-hour of primetime programming to present an archival NA MELE concert, featuring Aunty Genoa and four members of her family. The granddaughter she trained in falsetto, Pomaika'i Keawe, was at her side.  PBS Hawaii could move quickly to substitute this 2001 program because we're locally owned and we're not restricted by a commercial network. And of course, we have a rich store of footage.

        I hope other viewers felt the way I did in seeing this hana hou show, produced by Stuart Yamane and Jay Junker. We saw Aunty Genoa doing what she loved, surrounded by people she loved.  There was playful interaction, and the 'ohana laughed hilariously at a rare miscue. The music was simply beautiful.

       It was an opportunity to appreciate the warmth and fullness of Genoa Keawe's life and begin to accept her passing.

       Aunty Genoa...I love you, dear.

Walter Dods: "Get Over It!"

     Don't you love it when you're talking with someone, going over what seems like familiar or predictable ground--and they surprise you with an answer that you don't expect? An answer that shifts your perspective and makes you look anew at the issue?

      That's what happens sometimes on LONG STORY SHORT--and if you watch the next conversation with Walter Dods Jr. on LONG STORY SHORT you'll see it happen. (Part 2 of a two-part interview airs at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday--2/26.)

      Dods, whose family lived in a quonset hut in what was then the "boonies" of Kuliouou, rose to prominence as an international banker. He's also known for championing localism in Hawaii. "The locals' local," he's been called.

      I asked him about community feelings that surfaced during the Hawaii Superferry controversy--the sense that Islanders have lost control of their destiny, that they're helplessly watching as the Hawaii they love is being scratched and sliced and nickeled and dimed to death.

      I expected Dods to support that local perspective. No way. Not even close.

      "Fortunately," he began, "the nice thing about not being in elective politics and being retired is, maybe I can be a little more brutally frank with some of the things that are said."

       "I would say harshly, get over it , 'cause it's a global society and we need to get over this feeling of isolation and lack of control," he said.

        His point: "I'll tell you, the world's not gonna stop just because there's this feeling of hopelessness."

       Oh, he's still a champion of locals. (Meaning, he takes care to say, everybody who embraces the host culture, whether they're Hawaii born and bred or newcomers.) He says locals need to stop thinking that it's "making ass" to be assertive. They need to step up, question, educate themselves, pursue answers and volunteer action.

         In other words, stop the hand-wringing and start shaping change to have the Hawaii we want.

         What do YOU think? Is Walter right about this?

*Program note:  Watch this LONG STORY SHORT conversation on PBS Hawaii's regular channel or in high-definition over the air or on our Oceanic Time Warner HD channel 1010.  Tuesday, 2-26, 7:30pm, repeating Sunday, March 2 at 2:30pm.

PBS Hawaii Makes Local TV History!

     Remember "the little engine who could"?  The old children's story comes to mind as I tell you with pride that this small public television station is claiming a Hawaii TV "first."

     Starting Tuesday at 7:30pm, LONG STORY SHORT becomes the first weekly local television program to be shot, edited and aired in high definition. There've been "one of" local shows that have gone all HD, but PBS Hawaii is making LONG STORY SHORT a true HD show every week.

      To see it in HD, you'll need a high-def television set, of course, and you'll either need to tune into channel 1010, PBS Hawaii's HD channel on Oceanic Time Warner Cable or catch us over the broadcast airwaves. Look for our vibrant clarity.

      This piece of TV history  is made possible by a partnership with Sony, which is providing the high-def technology. Thanks, Sony, for being a leader in the technology and for choosing to make a community investment in us!

      The show's guest will be as memorable as the milestone-- Walter Dods Jr.  started life as one of seven kids in a quonset hut in Kuliouou and now can afford as many beautiful houses as he wants. The retired First Hawaiian/BancWest banker distinguished himself as a community and business leader and a fierce advocate for Hawaii. He remains influential. He's a great storyteller who uses his sense of humor and a knack for timing.

      You'll hear about opportunities he had and choices he made along the way after being installed in the lowliest job his bank employer could give him--dead-files clerk.  Now retired, after ascending to a high-rise office suite in a hugely successful career , he says, "I can be a little more brutally frank."

      His interview will run in two parts on the all-HD LONG STORY SHORT, Feb. 19 and 26 at 7:30pm. (The show will also be carried in standard definition on our regular PBS Hawaii channel.)

     Yup, we at PBS Hawaii feel like "the little TV station that CAN" as we move forward in an uphill media landscape. It's because of intriguing people like Walter Dods, generous community partners like Sony, and other supporters who believe in television for the public good.

Before Anne Namba Became a "Name" Designer...

     I met Anne Namba when she was in the third or fourth grade at 'Aina Haina Elementary School in Honolulu. I was a couple of years older.

      Nobody at school could miss Anne's arrival on the first day of school with her sister, Nodie.  Both long-haired girls with ruler-straight bangs were carrying their schoolbooks in a woven bags with a strap that somehow was secured on their forehead. They looked very exotic. They also used foreign-looking utensils (not chopsticks) to eat their school lunch. The rest of us watched them with great fascination and a little awe.

      When I remind Anne of that now, she laughs heartily and rolls her eyes.  "We were weirdos!" she says. The Namba family had been living in Bangkok, Thailand for a year, and the girls had become accustomed to the bags and utensils. They didn't realize how strikingly different they'd appear to their Hawaii classmates.

       I got to know Anne and Nodie (and their  'ohana) over the years at 'Aina Haina El, Niu Valley Intermediate, Kalani High and beyond.  Over the decades, they have remained fascinating to me in part because they are such a mix of down-to-earth local girls and intrepid travelers who layer their lives with the knowledge of the many places they've explored.

      In middle school, the Namba family  left for another year in a  foreign city, Tehran Iran, where Dr. Ryoji Namba, a UH entomology professor, was on sabbatical leave.  They returned with rich fabrics and even richer stories. Gracious mom Winnie always made great treats that I found both familiar and exciting, because they had a twist of spices or other influences that spoke of other cultures far away.

      One summer Anne, Nodie and I were among the girls taking  sewing lessons  from Doris Tokushige at her home in  hillside 'Aina Haina. I had no idea I was witnessing the start of a highly successful and creative career.  I was bumbling around, intent on getting the hang of installing  zippers and buttonholes and facing, and I assumed Anne was struggling with the same learning curve.

      Who would've guessed that in adulthood, Anne would become a distinguished fashion designer, with her Eurasian creations sold in selected stores nationwide, and that her old sewing-challenged Niu Valley neighbor and pal would be the host of a television show interviewing interesting people like her?

      You can see the show in which Anne is my guest in PBS Hawaii's  LONG STORY SHORT living room on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7:30 pm (repeating Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm)!

More PBS Viewers Read and Write Blogs

      One of PBS' newer weekly programs is WIRED SCIENCE, which wonders "How come?" about real-life questions large and small, and pursues scientific answers. WIRED SCIENCE staffer Damon Gambuto believes in scientific inquiry off-duty as well. In a blog entry in the "Behind the Scenes" feature on the show's website, he shares that he only dimly recalls the show's wrap party because he celebrated a little too much. He writes about the biological processes that combined to create his hangover. I think I learned all I want to know about the brain shrinking due to dehydration. Still, it isn't an extended explanation. Damon wanted to go back to bed.

     PBS program blogs are getting a lot of "reads," which make sense because public television viewers are jumping into social media (defined as online practices giving people a voice). New PBS national research shows public television viewers are twice more likely to write a blog, post a product review, submit online video or take part in  other aspects of social media.

      That's why our PBS Hawaii staff is working to make this website more interactive. Who wants life to be a one-way street?

Giving a Tour and Getting a Rush

    Ever find yourself  getting a rush out of a simple task?

    It  happened to me as PBS Hawaii board chairman Neil Hannahs and I were showing our newest board member, Tom Koide, around our studio and offices in Manoa.

     Tom's a banker, very high up in the Bank of Hawaii hierarchy. He's also down-to-earth and action-oriented and brings a passion to public service.

     We stopped in at our studio where the crew was breaking down the set of  Everybody's Business with Howard Dicus and we chatted with production manager Paul Hayashida and studio chief Glenn Yamamoto. Paul and Glenn easily answered Tom's questions, because they've been equipping and caring for the studio for many years.

      The casual tour went on, stopping at this cubicle and that, pausing to talk with show host Howard, our VP for underwriting, an editor, a producer, an engineer, a grantwriter, Development staffers, a traffic specialist, our webmaster.  In brief, comfortable conversations, Tom learned quickly about our operations.

     I realized that while each staffer warmly welcomed our newest board member, no one was trying to impress him.  Nope, they weren't trying--but they DID impress. They were knowledgeable and friendly.

     There's something captivating about people who enjoy what they're doing, who are good at it, and who feel they're making a difference.

      No effusive greetings and straining to please. Tom felt the authenticity of people who are generally glad to be who they are, where they are. And glad to have him aboard.

      This is a rare and special workplace. That's when I felt that rush.