Posted on: Friday, February 11, 2005

This book is hardly 'junk stuff'

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

You ought to know his name but probably don't.

Wesley T. Park has held high power positions for decades, but has kept himself largely behind-the-scenes.

He was president and CEO of Hawai'i Dental Service, vice president of the East-West Center, dean of the University of Hawai'i College of Continuing Education and Community Service, on the board of directors for First Hawaiian Bank, Verizon, Honolulu Academy of Arts, Bishop Museum, the June Jones Foundation and on and on. He was even Danny Kaleikini's manager, but always avoided the spotlight.

"A long time ago, I read that life is a matter of substance and form. And I thought I would try to live my life without form and try to just be substance."

Park pursued higher education, cultivated an appreciation of art, and held fast to the values of his Kalihi youth, including the emphasis on humility, which is why it took a lot of persuasion to get him to publish a book.

Park, now in his 60s, wrote "Lessons Learned on the Corner in Kalihi" for his two sons and his grandson, never intending the collection of pithy adages to leave family hands. But a friend got hold of the manuscript, made 200 copies and started sending them out to people. It took two years of persuasion to get Park to agree to have his words published.

The book has one or two sentences per page, like:

"Never buy anything from a salesman with greasy hair and a thin mustache."

"Don't gamble in your own hometown and don't drink before the sun goes down."

"Forgetting junk stuff helps you to be happy."

The effect is something like the Rev. Paul Osumi meets Skippa Diaz, soulful and funny, with a fond foreword written by Park's dear friend, Walter Dods.

Park says the finished text is really his outline for a book, but friends convinced him to keep the haiku-like format.

"They told me, 'A lot of guys have one idea and they take the whole book to explain the idea. But you, you take an idea and put it in on one page, in one sentence. It's a reverse gift. A novelist has to learn to expand and describe and build character. But yours is the opposite. Leave it like that.' "

He won't be doing autograph sessions to promote his book. That was part of his deal with the publisher.

"I told him I don't want my picture in the back of the book with a dog and pipe because I no more dog and I smoke cigars. And I no like do book signings. It's like 'come look at me' and pretty soon you end up sitting there by yourself."

Again, there's that old Kalihi ethic, where dignity and friendships are more important than pursuits of money, power and glory.

"You need money enough to live. You need power to get the job done. Glory, you don't need. Some people live for only those three things and they're never happy."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.