Floating City, Hawaii International Film Festival, Sunday, Evening
Oct 28, 2009 | 
The screening of a new documentary, a meditation on statehood, was followed by a panel discussion. Sitting at the panel were people who appeared in the film–academics, activists, reporters, two former governors–an esteemed group by any standard. The first audience member to take the mic during the question-and-answer session was a tall, portly, ponytailed man who looked familiar yet was hard to recognize after all these years–until he said his name. A well-known local entertainer, he talked about how he went to Stanford, taught at Punahou and appeared on Hawaii 5-0. “You know how Steve [McGarret] said ‘Book ’em Dano, book ’em Chin Ho, book ’em Ben?’ I was Ben. I always wanted to say to Steve, ‘Book ’em yourself.’”
