Maui No Ka Oi
December 4, 2007 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays No Comments |
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Hanukkah Begins
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Kani le‘a: To Sing cheerfully HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Even the base of the ear isn’t tickled by the song.”
December 4, 1966: Nationally popular Hawaiian singer/songwriter Kuiokalana Lee dies of cancer in Mexico, where he had gone to try the experimental cancer treatment Laetrile. He was 34, and left a wife and four children. He was buried at sea in Hawaii. Lee was born of Hawaiian entertainer parents in Shanghai, China. When he was five, they moved first to Maui, then to Honolulu. Lee visited Maui often, and wrote one of his biggest hits, “Lahainaluna” (Maui is the only place for me), with those memories. Lee is credited with writing 80 original songs, including the national hit, “I’ll Remember You,” recorded by many artists including Tony Bennett, Andy Williams and Herb Alpert.
He arrived at songwriting and performing in a round about way. He grew up on the beach, with “no discernible purpose” he once said. Then he became a choreographer, a sword performer and a knife thrower before penning ballads. Prior to recording them himself, he often gave them to Don Ho, who made a smash hit from one of Lee’s favorites, “Tiny Bubbles”.
While he battled cancer, Lee recorded two albums. Recently, a retrospective of his work was published on CD, ”The Essential Kui Lee.”
HISTORICAL EVENTS — December 4th
1563: The Council of Trent holds its last session
1619: America’s first Thanksgiving Day (Virginia)
1674: Father Marquette builds first dwelling in what is now Chicago
1808: Napoleon abolishes the Spanish Inquisition
1829: The Indian practice of “suttee” (burying a widow with her husband) is abolished
1918: The kingdom of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes (Yugoslavia) is proclaimed
1918: President Wilson sets sail to Versailles Peace Conference in France
1920: The first professional football playoff game is played
1927: Duke Ellington opens at the Cotton Club in Harlem
1943: Marshal Tito takes control over the kingdom of Yugoslavia
1945: The Senate approves U.S. participation in the United Nations
1964: The Beatles release their “Beatles For Sale” album
1978: Dianne Feinstein is named San Francisco’s first female mayor
1981: President Reagan allows the CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence
1993: Rock musician/composer Frank Zappa dies of cancer at age 52
1995: The first NATO troops land in the Balkans to set up a peace mission
1998: The space shuttle “Endeavour,” with a crew of 6, launches the first mission to begin assembling the International Space Station
BORN ON THIS DAY – December 4th
1443: Pope Julius II, patron of Michelangelo, Bramante, Raphael
1584: John Cotton, Puritan clergyman
1795: Thomas Carlyle, Scottish essayist/historian
1835: Samuel Butler, author
1861: Lillian Russell, singer/actress
1866: Vassily Kandisky, abstract artist
1875: Rainer Maria Rilke, poet (
1892: Francisco Franco, general/dictator of Spain
1935: Paul O’Neill, Secy of the Treasury
1937: Max Baer Jr, actor
1940: Freddy Cannon, rocker
1942: Chris Hillman, rocker
1944: Dennis Wilson, drummer/singer
1948: Southside Johnny Lyon, NJ, rocker
1949: Jeff Bridges, actor (K-PAX,
1964: Marisa Tomei, actress
1969: Jay-Z, Brooklyn, rapper
1987: Orlando Brown, actor
