Bob Sigall

When I drive around Honolulu, I often think about organizations that formerly occupied various sites. This week, I thought I’d focus on some of the schools that began in one place and have moved to another.

Readers often ask me where I get the ideas for Rearview Mirror. Usually, the ideas don’t come from a trip to the dentist. But, there’s a first time for everything, I guess.

Six years ago, I wrote about Takeo Yoshikawa, the Japanese consulate agent who spied on Pearl Harbor before World War II. It seemed to me then that he was the only Japanese spy in Hawaii at the time.

This is my 800th column in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. It began 15 years ago, when I was chatting in 2010 with business editor David Butts. My third “Companies We Keep” book had just come out and I asked if he would run a review of it.

Five years ago, I created a free email newsletter for readers of my Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser column. It has extra material that didn’t fit my Friday column, and it’s a place where we can discuss topics before and after they show up in my Friday column.

I was talking with Walter Ozawa recently. He was the former Honolulu Director of Parks and Recreation, and held several other important positions in government. We found ourselves talking about some of the cars we’ve owned and I thought it would be an interesting topic for Rearview Mirror.

Rearview Mirror often travels back in time to note anniversaries of companies that began 50, 75 or even more years ago.

When I was working on my first “The Companies We Keep” books, I interviewed Bob Sevey, often referred to as “Hawaii’s Walter Cronkite.” He told me about his career and the history of television news in Hawaii.

Robin Uyeshiro wrote to me about an interesting article in the New York Times that highlighted the objects that define the United States today, like dog strollers, Costco $4.99 rotisserie chicken, Botox, Ring doorbell cameras and red Solo cups.

A year ago, I wrote about the things that those in the other 49 states love about Hawaii. I explored the things they notice and find attractive about Hawaii and suggested they act like they have a “crush” on us.