Rearview Mirror: From Lahaina to Washington with aloha
I love finding stories that connect dots that are seemingly unrelated. This week’s column begins with the Pioneer Inn, which tragically burned down in Lahaina last month. Read more
Latest Stories by Bob Sigall
Rearview Mirror: Tales from Hurricanes Iwa and Iniki warn us to keep prepared
Two of the worst hurricanes to hit Hawaii in recent times have come in September and November. Their names were Iniki and Iwa. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Son shares stories of Columbia Inn legend
In July I wrote about Tosh Kaneshiro, owner of the Columbia Inn on Kapiolani Boulevard near South Street. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Short subjects: 500-foot-tall statue and baseball pioneer
Usually, my column is about one topic. But this week I’ve strung a few short subjects together. They’re all based on things people have said to me in the past month. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Pitcher and blond bombshell left an impact on the islands
I had lunch with Gene Kaneshiro last week. He showed me a photo of the Columbia Inn Roundtable All-Star baseball team from the early 1970s. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Kiddie Matinee Clubs provided Saturday morning entertainment
Laurence Wiig, who says he’s now 81 and living in Oregon, suggested I write about the Saturday Kiddie Matinee Movie Clubs that many Hawaii theaters had in the mid-1930s to early 1960s. Read more
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Rearview Mirror: Celebrating significant anniversaries in 2023
Some Hawaii companies and nonprofits have been around for 50 or 100 years, and some for nearly 200 years. The kingdom of Hawaii became a republic, then a territory and a state in the past two centuries. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Columbia Inn’s ‘Tosh’ Kaneshiro was world’s greatest Dodger fan
One of the greatest family restaurants in Hawaii history, in my opinion, was the Columbia Inn. It wasn’t a fancy place like the Third Floor or Canlis, but it had good, affordable food and was open 24 hours a day. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Hawaii residents banded together when hurricanes wreaked havoc
June marks the beginning of hurricane season in the Central Pacific. Hurricanes Dot (1959), Iwa (1982), and Iniki (1992) were the most consequential in recent times. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Buzz’s Original Steak House featured different iterations
uzz Schneider had a talent for starting things. His first restaurant, Buzz’s Steak ‘n’ Lobster, opened in July 1957 in Waikiki. In the following decades there would be over 20 restaurants in his orbit. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Actor Tom Selleck captured in many islanders’ photos
I asked readers who they managed to have a photo with. Did they cross paths with a celebrity and have a photo to prove it? Last month I shared stories of their meeting Neil Diamond, Willard Scott, Beatrice Wood and Nancy and Ronald Reagan. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Punchbowl, nuclear power, Flamingo eateries spur interest
My email inbox is usually overflowing with reader comments and questions. Sometimes they ask things I have never considered, such as when Punchbowl was first considered as a cemetery, or about proposed nuclear power plants on Oahu. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Readers recall their brush with greatness through photos
I met R. Buckminster Fuller, the inventor of the geodesic dome, a few times when he was in Hawaii around 1980. I have a photo of us somewhere. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Broadcaster started career calling for Hawaii Islanders
One of the greatest broadcasters in sports history, in my opinion, is Al Michaels. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Neighborhoods’ character produced nicknames
Jeffrey Young asked, “Can you find out where ‘Chinese Hollywood’ is and how it got its nickname? Read more
Rearview Mirror: Readers relive close encounters with Jack Lord, ‘Hawaii Five-0’
In March I wrote about the original “Hawaii Five-0,” which ran from 1968 to 1980. Several readers told me about their experiences with the long-running TV show. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Street vendors left their mark before modern supermarkets
A few months ago I wrote about vendors who drove, biked or walked though residential communities selling milk, ice cream, pastries, meat, vegetables, fish, manapua, tofu, ice, brooms, etc. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Shaka’s origin evolves through the years as readers chime in
On April 7 I wrote about the somewhat obscure history of that thumb-and-pinkie wave we call shaka. It brought in several interesting comments from readers. Here are some of them. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Decades-old shaka conveys aloha for Hawaii’s people and culture
Recently, Steve Sue, who is making the documentary “Shaka, the Story of Aloha,” interviewed me about that local thumb-and-pinkie wave we do here. In preparing for it, I decided to take all the things I know about the shaka and put it in a timeline. It helped me gain some perspective on it. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Bed races, National Dollar Stores pique interest
People ask me all the time where I get the ideas for my columns. Many of them come from questions readers send me. Here are three I’ve gotten in the past few weeks. Read more
Rearview Mirror: Temperature, snow and eating pizza among first impressions of mainland
Ronnie Belasco in Sacramento, Calif., suggested a topic for today: “Ask your readers what their first impressions of the mainland were, when they landed. Read more
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