Praise from author
I just read Bart Wright’s beautiful piece in the Tribune-Herald on “Uncle Joe” Kalima.
Although I never met the man, it’s impossible to read his column and not come away with a profound feeling of what a great spirit and wonderful human being he was and is in the lives of Hawaiians everywhere. My wife and I recently spent some time there, and were so moved by the beauty and the aloha spirit we sensed behind the hustle and bustle of tourism.
When I came to this passage near the end of Bart’s column, about Breeani Sumera-Lee reading with Joe from the book “The Go-Giver,” I teared up:
“As we read the book casually, it spoke in one of the chapters about giving and receiving, it says we can’t just be exhaling forever, we have to inhale eventually. Similarly, our hearts have to relax, but they also have to contract, that receiving is the natural result of giving.
“As we reflected on the chapter, we sat in silence for a while and pondered what it meant,” she said. “As we sat, I looked around and saw so much love, I saw his children loving him, his mother comforting him, the deep appreciation from all around.
“After a few moments passed,” Sumera-Lee said, “he turned to me and said, ‘So this is what it’s like to receive? I feel loved.’”
I’m honored beyond words that our little book — and that passage in particular, one of my own favorites — should have played a small role in those intimate moments between Joe and Sumera-Lee.
Thank you so much for retelling this story.
John David Mann
Co-author, “The Go-Giver”
Journalistic scrutiny
Three cheers for the Tribune-Herald!
Had it not been for the Tribune-Herald’s reporting, it is apparent that county Prosecutor Mitch Roth would not have thought to recuse himself from the Thirty Meter Telescope protester arrest cases in order to avoid “even the appearance” of impropriety.
Nor was the need for such yet apparent to the office of the state attorney general, the Office of Disciplinary Council, nor to the Hawaii County Board of Ethics.
Thank you, Tribune-Herald, for being on top of this situation.
It has been a longstanding role of American journalism “to scrutinize the forces of power in society” as stated within the formal credo of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Too often across time, the nation’s media have served as the lapdog rather than the watchdog, so it is inspiring to see our own Tribune-Herald pursue this important higher calling in this case.
The special assistant to the state attorney general may believe that it is “unfortunate” that this case “became newsworthy,” but anyone who values and supports the noblest role of the news media in a democracy will be inclined to view this event otherwise.
Ronald D. Gordon
Hilo