Hawai'i legend makes new mark with stamp

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Duke Kahanamoku, arguably Hawai'i's greatest sports name, will be celebrated Saturday when the U.S. Postal Service dedicates a new 37-cent stamp bearing his portrait.

The 34-cent Duke Kahanamoku stamp will become 37 cents Saturday.

He was the father of modern surfing, a four-time Olympian and an ambassador of aloha. His speed as a swimmer won him five medals between 1912 and 1932 — including three gold — and his charm and good sportsmanship won the hearts of people around the world.

Duke died in 1968 at the age of 77.

"He was an absolutely beautiful, beautiful man," said a second-cousin, Kamaka Clark Miyamoto. "You just don't see that anymore. I think if the world was a little more like him, it would be a better place to live in."

Duke was the oldest of nine children, born in Honolulu and raised near the ocean in Waikiki. He was a full-blooded Hawaiian who spoke the language.

Despite an international reputation earned through swimming and roles in more than 30 Hollywood movies, fame did not ruin Duke, who greeted everyone with a warm smile, Miyamoto said.

He could often be found on the sand and in the surf at Waikiki, enjoying the afternoon sun and greeting visitors, famous or otherwise.

Whenever he saw people watching the waves from the shore because they had no swim trunks, Duke would send them to the Outrigger Canoe Club to borrow some.

Then he and one of his brothers would take them out into the surf in their canoe.

"These kids were so surprised," Miyamoto said. "Here he was, Duke Kahanamoku, taking them out for a canoe ride. He was very kind with his time."

Duke was named after his father, who was named for the Duke of Edinburgh, who visited the islands in 1869. With the recognition that came when the younger Duke set Olympic swimming records, some tried to link the name to royalty.

The reply was pure Duke: "My father is a policeman."

As well known as he was for swimming, surfers around the world credit him with popularizing their sport. Duke introduced surfing to the Mainland in 1912 and to Australia in 1914.

Surfers have been catching waves ever since.

At home, Duke rode massive koa wood boards, 16 feet long and weighing as much as 114 pounds. It was on such a board that Duke had one of the greatest rides in history, catching a 30-foot wave at Castles off Waikiki and speeding along for more than a mile.

Bill Morris, a longtime friend, said he was an amazing surfer to watch.

"He looked like a sea god," the 79-year-old said. "He would catch waves way outside of us. He would say 'hup, hup, hup,' letting us know he was coming, get out of his way. He would have a big smile on his face as he came in."

Morris was 5 years old when he met Duke, and the legend taught him how to swim.

Years later, Morris would join the Duke when he paddled off Waikiki or went surfing. Duke was "all man," tall and muscular, he said.

But modest, too.

"He had a great deal of dignity about him," Morris said. "The way he stood, the way he talked. If he walked in a room, he sort of took over the room."

Morris saw Duke strike someone only once, in the late 1940s during a canoe regatta. Duke was walking behind a team of female paddlers carrying a canoe to the water, his huge steering paddle under his arm.

"Some drunk sailor reached up behind and goosed one of the girls," Morris said. "This guy thought he was funny."

Duke hit the sailor's backside so hard with his paddle, it lifted the man off the sand.

"You could hear it all over the beach like a pistol shot," Morris said.

Veteran big-wave surfer Fred Hemmings was 19 when he met Duke, who invited him to join his surf team and travel the world. The two became great friends.

Duke was a man of great self-confidence who did not measure his worth with what he owned.

Biographer Sandra Hall looks over a pair of framed photos that Nadine Kahanamoku, Duke's widow, kept next to her bed. Many items of Duke memorabilia are on display at the Kaimuki Library as a prelude to the issuance of the Duke stamp. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"He measured his wealth in his friends and his lifestyle and the simple pleasures," Hemmings said.

In 1990, a statue of him was placed on Kuhio Beach. The larger-than-life bronze greets visitors, arms outstretched.

Miyamoto spoke at its dedication. Sometimes she likes to sit on a nearby park bench and watch visitors as they pose for photographs next to her cousin.

He put Hawai'i on the map, she said, and now they seek him out — people from all walks of life, lei in hand.

"You have these young people come and they are just awestruck at this statue," she said. "I go there and I sit and watch. It is just beautiful."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.