FOR MARY, MARTHA & MIKI

Bill Bigelow, mentioned here on May 24, was well known in Hawaii, on the scene for over 40 years. His passing was dutifully noted at the time in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and Hawaii Reporter. The Honolulu Advertiser, to my knowledge, has not mentioned a word of Bill's death. 

This is not surprising, considering how that once proud paper is slipping at every level. The Tiser seems to me, in the five minutes or so needed to read any original material of interest, to be twisting through an identity crisis: To be a newspaper wrapped around a high school sports section or an "interactive web presence." 

None of the old gang is left to maintain kamaaina vibes. A succession of  "parachute editors" has dropped in and contributed little other than more senseless Gannettisms and a blurry vision of and for our state. Newspapers are going through shrinkage spasms. Competition comes from endless new sectors, all of which unimaginable in the days when Linotype machines were the most modern thing on South Street. In New Century Honolulu media the former undisputed newspaper champ is going down before morning readers' eyes.

Yesterday I saluted Ed Kanoi for being voted Advertiser  "People's Choice" co-winner in the Best Radio Personality voting. The 146 categories included those honored as Best Hearing Center, (where we presume they listen to Ed). But the awards are not accessible online. They appear only in a print edition insert, apparently just another advertising sales-driven "feature," where dollars take precedence over duty -- to journalistic integrity.

I worked in the News Building in the mid-50s when KGU occupied the top floor. I stood in the shadows and learned from of the giants of Hawaii journalism, such as George Chaplin, Buck Buchwach, Bob Krauss, Sandy Zalburg and others. The publisher belonged to the Thurston family of local press pioneers. The at the Honolulu Advertiser should take the time to read and absorb their Mission Statement. And until they accept and apply its precepts, that paper remains chillingly out of touch, "thinking" with hard drives rather than any heart.

What of the great institutions of my youth will be left when I check out? The Star-Bulletin is trying to serve the public interest aided by a staff empathetic to Hawaii's zeitgeist and manna. One such is reporter Burl Burlingame, who wrote the story of Bill Bigelow's life and death. Another is writer John Heckathorn. His Page Two column in S-B Sunday editions is called What The Heck? On July 1, he wrote:: 

Deeply Regretted

A couple of years ago, Bill Bigelow saw me in the market, called my name. Hearing your name in Bigelow's resonant bass voice was like being paged by one of God's announcers.

Which might be Bigelow's current gig -- since he died two weeks ago today at home. Bill was a TV and radio reporter, an author, Sheraton's head of PR, an actor.

I remember him for two things. First, his quixotic attempt to resurrect "Hawaii Calls" as a national radio show. And that big, loud wonderful voice, now quiet.

To which I can only add brother Bill's AOL address: "Aloha Billy."

HOT SOUP: The Makaha Sons play live in our jungle studio Wednesday. It will be a great reunion for me with Moon Kauakahi, who was granted leave from the Hawaii National Guard on a Sunday in 1978 (above, Skippy Kamakawiwoole, Moon, Iz and Mel Amina) to play with the group at my daughter Miki'ala's baby luau at the old Diamond Head house. I've made no secret since way back when I met the band, when I was on a midlife comeback and they were kids, that they are my favorite contemporary Hawaiian group. Unlike certain corporate enterprises, they are driven by Hawaiian soul, know their audience and improve with time.