We were so excited that day the very first copy of the book arrived in the mail. Craig grabbed his camera and ran outside so he could capture the moment and didn’t even need to say “Smile!”

Isn’t that a beaut? We had, of course, seen all the parts, but to see them put together and really hold that baby in my hand was beyond thrilling. One journey was ending; another, just beginning, and I had no idea where it would take me.

You might think, after all those years on TV, seeing my words on the printed page wouldn’t be that big a deal. But it was. I have always loved books, and to hold my very own book in my hand was a very emotional moment. Really big — like when I saw my first baby right after he was born.

The book got such a warm welcome when it first arrived in Sonoma! Bookclubs immediately put The Munchkin Diary, My Personal Yellow Brick Road on their calendars and invited me to their meetings. I had a wonderful time hearing their comments firsthand and listening to their stories that were similar to my own. If the bookclub was too far away for a personal visit, we set up Zoom chats. I’m still doing book club Zooms and would love to hear from you if your group would like to set one up. Contact info is at the bottom of the page. Check out the Reviews page to see some of the comments people have made after reading the stories.

That’s my brother Everett and me with my dog-buddy Poochie. My all white outfit for my First Communion doesn’t seem to impress either one of them. The stick Everett is holding is obviously far more fascinating to Poochie who will not take his eyes off of it. He lives for the moment — someone will throw a stick so he can run, bring it back and have it thrown all over again. I’ve had several dogs in my life, but never one so obsessed with “fetching” as Poochie. He and my runt pig Tiny were my after-school playmates on the farm. Just about everything on the farm made for some wonderful memories — except for my adult cousin, the memory of whom is still vivid but not what you can call wonderful. Those stories are in Chapters 5 through 8.

This picture was taken in my Tutu’s backyard the summer of 1945 when my mother took my brother and me to Hawai`i to meet her side of the family. I wore a gardenia in my hair every day we were in Hilo. I wanted to belong there, but my Island cousins told us we talked and acted like “haoli” (mainlanders). Mainland people thought of us as “Island” people. I wasn’t sure WHAT I was or where I belonged and consequently did some pretty dumb things when people asked me about it. All of that is in Chapter 9.

The story of my life in politics is a short one with a not-so-happy-ending BUT what it led to was something so fulfilling and wonderful, it was almost hard to believe. And it was all because I joined the League of Women Voters and did work I was passionate about — getting local government to work for people and neighborhoods. Timing also had a lot to do with it — and the political activism of the 60s. I don’t think it would have happened at any other time except when it did. Maybe I had a Good Fairy TV Godmother, I don’t know, but I still feel totally blessed for all those great years at Channel 2. Those stories are in Chapters 12 through 17.

After that unbelievably horrible day in October 1991 when we lost our home and everything in it, we didn’t believe the friend who told us even the Firestorm cloud would have a silver lining. No. No way. There was just too much pain from the largest urban wildfire in the country up to that time. That act of nature destroyed 3,000 homes and was followed by man-made pain inflicted by insurance companies that didn’t want to deliver what their sales pitches had promised. All of that plus how we fought back is in Chapters 18 through 20.

We lived Hollywood to the max while I was a young child. My brother and I performed in kiddie shows all over town with other students from the Bud Murray studios, and since Hollywood was in love with all things Hawaiian in those days, we had bit parts in lots of films too. It was a glamorous and heady childhood. Oh yes, it had its pitfalls and conflicts, but there’s one giant payoff that still shows no signs of stopping. These stories are in Chapters 1 through 4.

My Chinese-Hawaiian mother suppressed her ethnicity and raised us to succeed in the white man’s world of the 30s and 40s. When I became an adult and sought answers about my ethnicity, I turned to someone I call “my Hawaiian mom.” Ida Namanuokawa`a Wong Gonsalves entered my life through the hula and will be in my heart forever. That story is in chapter 21 and is still playing out.

I can’t remember when I didn’t dance. As a child I took tap dancing and, of course, my mother taught me a couple of little hulas. What I really wanted to take was “toe-dancing,” but that didn’t happen. What did happen though, many years later during the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 70s, was that I learned more about what the hula meant to the Hawaiian people. The more I learned, the more beautiful it became and the deeper it resonated in my soul. Today it is the core of my life. Read about that in Chapter 21.

This picture is from Hula Mai’s show in the Sonoma Plaza in 2019. It was the spectacular finish to our tenth annual Gift of Aloha to the community. Terrific, isn’t it? I only have one rule about Hula Mai and that is: I go wherever it leads me. During the 15 or so years when I was dancing in Ida’s troupe, she often told me she wanted me to take over from her when she retired. But I took a detour and even stopped dancing altogether for about 30 years. Then something very special and spiritual happened that became Hula Mai. So, I think Ida has gotten her way after all. Read the whole story in Chapter 21.

Our entry hall room became our home studio. At the height of the pandemic no one was doing interviews in person, so Craig improvised a “den” for me where reporters and podcasters could get their interviews on Zoom! At the same time Craig set his own camera up and shot the interviews. You can see some highlights from those by clicking the pictures on the Vids ’n Clips page.

In 2020 and 2021 newspaper reporters could do their interviews on Zoom, but press photographers had to come in person bringing all their lights, reflectors, and cameras. Funny as it seems for someone who has had a career in front of cameras, posing for a still picture has always been difficult and uncomfortable for me. I’m fine being “on camera” if I’m doing something — dancing or relating the news — but sitting there and smiling at the camera — that’s a different animal. All the photographers were great though and tried to make my ‘posing’ as painless as possible.

The press welcome to my book was amazing in the Bay Area. They all loved the fact that a former Munchkin/TV news reporter who was teaching hula in her old age — had written a bunch of stories about her life. The coverage was stunning with the result that lots of people bought the book. It was wonderful!

I was blown away by the response to my stories — I really had no idea my life would be that interesting to people outside my own family! After all, it was just my life — with all its twists and turns. But the stories apparently resonate with people because we all have challenges large and small — and we meet those challenges and reap those rewards, or not. It’s all of our lives. That’s what’s in the book.