Longtime Honolulu Advertiser columnist Eddie Sherman died last week. He was 88. He was friends with and wrote about many celebrities, such as Bette Midler, Don Ho, Kui Lee, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando.

In remembrance, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite Eddie Sherman stories from his book, "Frank, Sammy, Marlon, & Me." The first is about how Jack Lord was almost fired from "Hawaii Five-0."

It began with a misunderstanding.

When the Diamond Head Film Studio was built, Sherman and a few others gave "Hawaii Five-0" producer Leonard Freeman some stock in the new studio in appreciation for his being a new tenant.

Freeman was unaware they had done it, however, when Lord came across the stock certificate and offhandedly mentioned it to CBS executives, who thought it was a conflict of interest. Freeman traveled to Los Angeles and was able to explain it to them but was furious with Lord.

He told them "his first order of business upon landing would be to visit Jack Lord and fire him. I don’t need the star of my show stabbing me in the back!"

Back in Hawaii, Freeman and Sherman had breakfast at the Kahala Hilton. Freeman said he was going to walk next door to Lord’s apartment and fire him. Lord’s replacement would be Lloyd Bridges from the show "Sea Hunt."

Twenty minutes later he returned. "Have you ever seen a grown man cry?" Freeman asked Sherman. "I just couldn’t fire him."

What had happened?

Freeman said that Lord became hysterical. He explained he didn’t intend to get him in trouble. Lord then got on the floor and grabbed Freeman around the ankles and begged for forgiveness.

"He’s a hard worker," Freeman said. "He’s dedicated to the show and does a first-class job. But I told him to just stick to his work and mind his own business — that one more stunt like this would be cause for dismissal!"

Frankly, it’s hard for me to imagine Lord crying and hugging Freeman’s ankles, but then I remember — Lord was an actor.

Sherman seemed to be friends with everyone, including industrialist Henry Kaiser, who built the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hawaii Kai, and the Kaiser Permanente medical center. They both lived on the water and had boats and poodles.

In 1968, Sherman’s toy poodle, Gigi, was close to giving birth. She was tiny and Sherman was worried. It was Sunday and no veterinarian was available.

Sherman called Kaiser and told him of his concerns. A few hours later, Sherman says, he saw two pink speedboats heading for his pier in Kaneohe.

"There he was, Henry J. Kaiser, the man himself, like he had nothing better to do. Not only did he have his vet with him, he also brought a trainer and various assistants."

The vet took Gigi to Kaiser’s personal dog hospital, where she delivered a puppy that afternoon. He was named Henry.

The last story is about comedian Bob Hope. He offered to put on a benefit for an unnamed local hospital. He would receive his regular $60,000 fee, and the hospital could keep all the proceeds beyond that.

The hospital staff was thrilled and jumped into selling tickets. Unfortunately, by the evening of the show, they were still thousands of dollars shy of Hope’s fee. Hospital officials informed Hope that they stood to lose thousands.

Hope refused to negotiate and even charged them another $2,500 because his wife, Dolores, sang an unscheduled song.

Hope put on hundreds of these "benefits" around the country, Sherman says.

Hope and his wife both lived past 100. In his later years he funneled much of his wealth into charities through the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation.

As Sherman was writing his book, he came to a realization: The common thread in his stories, and in the greatest moments of his life, were not the celebrities he wrote about.

"Instead, the true star of this book," he wrote, "is what first enthralled me so many years ago after I stepped off the Lurline. It’s what’s captured the hearts of people like Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley. Hawaii."

Sherman felt that he had a seat on the 50-yard line of life. "It afforded me a fantastic opportunity to meet and know some of the world’s most famous people. And the greatest of them all was Mr. and Mrs. Hawaii. Aloha!"

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Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.