Draped in lei and smiling through tears, entertainment
writer Wayne Harada stood surrounded by friends and colleagues at a surprise
tribute to him in The Honolulu Advertiser's newsroom.
After being serenaded by some of his entertainment
industry peers — including singer Jimmy Borges and columnist Eddie Sherman —
and presented with goodbye gifts from his co-workers, Harada paused for a
moment and wiped his eyes in a rare show of his softer side.
"With show business, you have an opening night. Mine was
44 years ago, and closing night is around the corner," Harada said after the
cheering crowd demanded a speech. "That's the way it is. Nothing is forever.
I'm sad to leave, but I'm happy to leave."
Harada, 67, has retired from The Advertiser after more
than four decades of covering show business in Hawai'i and abroad, offering
readers a glimpse into the lives of entertainers — from newbies to icons —
in music, television, film, theater and everything in between.
A true master of his craft, Harada wrote with authority
and passion, earning the trust of his readers and sources in the
entertainment community.
Through the years, Harada has amassed enough memories and
memorabilia to last a lifetime — having birthday dinners with Don Ho (the
two shared the same birth date), getting Elvis Presley's autograph on a
cocktail napkin, visiting an ailing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, talking story
with Auntie Genoa Keawe, receiving a phone call at home from Tom Selleck,
and being photographed with Wayne Newton, Celine Dion and Yoko Ono, among
others.
"I've enjoyed it," Harada said. "I really have."
Besides his popular "Show Biz" column and countless
stories for the TGIF entertainment tabloid and Island Life features section,
Harada has been a Hawai'i correspondent for Billboard, The Hollywood
Reporter and People magazines over the years.
Borges said Harada has been an integral part of his
40-year career.
"He writes about what he loves, and that love shines
through to his readers," Borges said. "He's been the driving force in
Hawai'i for decades as THE voice of show biz. ... Wayne is one of a kind and
will never be replaced."
Tom Moffatt, another prominent local entertainment figure
and friend of Harada's for more than 50 years, echoed Borges' sentiments.
"Wayne has covered the scene here since the early days of
rock 'n' roll and has helped so many of our entertainers further their
careers," Moffatt said. "No one alive can match his knowledge of
entertainment in Hawai'i, past and present. Wayne Harada is Hawai'i's 'Mr.
Entertainment.' "
The early years
Buried in a May 1956 issue of Kawananakoa Intermediate
School's student newspaper is a write-up that is among Moffatt's prized
possessions.
"Wayne was responsible for one of the early stories about
my radio show when I began playing rock 'n' roll on radio station KIKI,"
said Moffatt.
The Page 2 blurb by Harada, then 14, reads: "Starting at
10 nightly till 1 the next morning (except Sundays), you'll hear dedications
to and from Kawana-nakoans. Too late for you? Give it a try once. The swell
d.j. is Mr. Tom Moffatt, who makes the dedications."
Harada's newspaper career began years before he joined The
Advertiser. He was a reporter and editor for his school newspapers at
Kawananakoa, Farrington High School and the University of Hawai'i.
His first writing job for The Advertiser was in the late
1950s while in high school. Harada participated in a job-shadowing program
and spent the day with a reporter covering a story at the Legislature.
"That was the first time I stepped into this building,"
Harada recalled.
Then in 1957, Harada began stringing for The Advertiser as
a reporter for "Hawaii's Youth," a Sunday tabloid by and about students from
local high schools. He continued to do this after he graduated from
Farrington in 1959 and throughout college at UH, where he graduated in 1963.
After graduation, Harada applied at the Star-Bulletin; he
attended UH, thanks to the help of a four-year scholarship awarded by the
newspaper. But because there was no opening, Harada applied at The
Advertiser. In 1964, then-managing editor Buck Buchwach offered Harada a
full-time job on the copy desk, where he worked for about a year.
"It was probably the best training I could get," Harada
said.
Shortly after, Buchwach gave Harada the beat he would come
to own.
"(He) was the one who appointed me to entertainment ...
only because I was doing so much of that already as a freelancer and during
my high school years," Harada said.
'Wayne's world'
Between sips of coffee from his frowny- and smiley-face
mug — those who know him well would appreciate the relevance, as Harada is a
man who makes his feelings known — Harada recalled some of the highlights of
his career. He began his new entertainment beat in the years following
statehood.
"Hawai'i was evolving as a destination, and I guess
everybody credits 'Hawai'i Five-0' for bringing Hawai'i to the world," he
said.
While the series was at its height during the 1970s,
Harada got to know the show's star, Jack Lord.
"He acted even when he was not on camera, but he had a
very good heart," Harada recalled.
Over the years, Harada got to know so many more
personalities, reporting on countless names and events.
He has reviewed acts at the Hawaiian Hut and many
long-gone showrooms throughout Waikiki, productions from Manoa Valley
Theatre to the Great White Way. Harada traveled regularly to New York to see
and write about the Broadway scene.
His columns and features have covered an array of
performers: Gabby Pahinui, Paul Anka, Kalapana, David Copperfield, Jake
Shimabukuro, Cris Gronendaal, Taimane Gardner, The Monkees, Cecilio &
Kapono, Jackie Chan, Jim Nabors and Arnold Schwarz-enegger. The list seems
endless.
In some cases, Harada developed friendships with his celeb
sources.
"For those of us in the entertainment industry, he helped
give us credibility, respect and ... made stars out of all of us," said
friend Emme Tomimbang, veteran television producer and host. "It was truly
'Wayne's world' that made Hawai'i's foremost entertainment scene."
Comedian Frank DeLima said he appreciated Harada's reviews
of his performances — even the not-so-glowing ones — because Harada was
always honest.
"I have all his write-ups about me. I have them all," said
DeLima, who got his start in 1975. "It's a nice history, because it shows
how much I've learned."
Tihati Productions' Cha Thompson, a friend of Harada's for
more than 40 years, playfully refers to Harada as "a big ol' grouch."
"I know that in the early years, entertainers used to
actually fear him because he's not that warm and fuzzy," Thompson said. "But
they got to know him, and they all really love him now."
Curtain call
Sitting at his desk — a dimly lit workspace filled with
stacks of papers and dust-covered knickknacks, some of them handcrafted as
an off-duty hobby — Harada responded to being referred to as an icon.
"What really is an icon?" Harada asked. "An icon is in the
eye of the beholder. I don't feel iconic."
But many feel otherwise. "Only because I've been here too
damn long," Harada said with a laugh.
He no longer has to worry about the long hours and daily
grind of employment. He was among 41 Advertiser employees who accepted
buyouts from the company as it sought to cut expenses.
The offer was just one of the reasons Harada finally
decided to retire. "Beyond that, it's been highly stressful," Harada said.
Musician and composer Audy Kimura called Harada a walking,
talking, living history of the entertainment and music industry in Hawai'i.
"My conclusion is that the only reason he has been able to
do all of this for so many years is that he truly loves the arts and the
people in it," Kimura said. "It is the only way Wayne could have performed
his duties with such passion and dedication for so many decades."
Loretta Ables Sayre, the local entertainer who was
nominated for a Tony for her Bloody Mary role in "South Pacific" on
Broadway, called Harada's retirement an end of an era.
"Wayne has worked so hard for so long and is the most
respected icon in entertainment journalism in Hawai'i," she said. "I am
happy that he is healthy and young enough to retire and enjoy the fruits of
his labor."
Harada will now have more time to spend doing what he
enjoys, including traveling with his wife, Violet, whom he's been married to
since 1968. Harada also crafts original notecards, stationery and gift boxes
as a hobby.
At Harada's surprise newsroom send-off, he beamed at the
well-wishers who gathered.
"I've had a boring life — this is the only job I've ever
had," Harada joked.
"But anyway, it's been a wonderful journey," Harada
continued, wiping away more tears. "I'll take away many memories, made a lot
of friends in the process and had a wonderful time."
