Editorial
The pol and the flack: We lose two great ones

Politician and PR person. Public life is awash with them. Part of the standard parade that make news in any community.

Honolulu lost one of each last week, but they were hardly made for anyone's standard parade.

Former Republican lawmaker Richard "Ike" Sutton and PR man extraordinaire Kimo McVay were characters in every sense of the word. Each managed to make of himself a character larger than life, full of surprise and wonder at the sheer fun of it all.

McVay was the master impresario. No one he represented, no project he touched was anything other than the greatest, the absolutely most important of all. And far more often than not, he was right. McVay was present at the creation of some of Hawai'i's best and most enduring talents.

Sutton, a master of self-invention, barreled his way through life on charm, bluster and an astonishing ability to put himself at the center of any event, current or historic. While he took his work and his service on behalf of the Republican Party with great seriousness, he did not take himself seriously.

Ike Sutton and Kimo McVay were characters in the best sense of the word. They made Honolulu a better, more entertaining, more delightful place to be.

What more could you ask?