Everybody who met Don Ho came away with a story to tell. These are some of those tales as related to The Advertiser yesterday by phone and e-mail:

THE DUET

Singer Melvin Leed says one duet she sang with Ho stands out in her mind. For years, she and other Waikiki entertainers would go to Ho's shows, hoping to be recognized and called up to sing on stage before his large audience. "The night I remember most was at the dome in the Hilton Hawaiian Village when he called me up to sing 'I'll Remember You.' It was completely unrehearsed and we did it in our own style. I'll never, never, never forget it." Another time, Ho called her up to sing a song and she told him she wasn't going to do it unless he joined in, an audacious statement from an up-and-coming singer. "He was a little shocked at first, but I reminded him he was the one who kept telling me to be myself. We ended up singing 'Isa Lei.'"

THE CALL FROM THE DON

The first time singer Willie Kahaiali'i went on a date with his wife, he took her to see the Don Ho show in Waikiki. "It was right after I won the Hoku award back in 1993 or 1994, and I was just sitting in the audience when one of the workers comes up and says Don Ho wants to see me." So he went into a backroom and met Ho for the first time. Ho ordered everyone else out of the room and reminisced about how he used to sing with Kahaiali'i's father. "That was my greatest moment with him," Willie K. said. "That was the moment I got the call to see The Don."

DUCK TALK

"We had the privilege of seeing Mr. Ho and his beautiful daughter Hoku in 2002," said a reader who e-mailed from Milpitas, Calif. "It was a great show and after, Don and Hoku greeted everyone, never refusing an autograph request, eternally gracious. I had read earlier that day that his nickname in high School was "Duck" and I ask him about it. He chuckled and replied 'because of the way I walk.' "

THE MEMORIAL

Back in the 1970s, entertainer Jeffrey Apaka used to hold regular memorial concerts for his own entertainer father at the Diamond Head Memorial Park. "We'd have it right there at the mausoleum. We set up big tents with food and everybody would come and kanikapila," Apaka remembers. One year, Ho — who had worked with the elder Apaka — pulled the son aside and told him that he should continue doing it every year. "I didn't, of course, but I'm grateful for all the advice he gave me over the years."

A STAR IS BORN

"My one great memory of Don Ho is when I was a little girl," remembers an Advertiser reader named Jenna. "I think I was about seven and we went to see his show. He would do this part in the show where he would sing Happy Birthday to someone in the audience and I guess there was no one with a birthday that night, so they picked me out of the audience and asked me if I wanted to go on stage with him and he would sing it to me. They told me to "make pretend." It was really cool to be up there with such a legend and I will always have that memory, and the memory of meeting him backstage when the show was over."

THE IMPERSONATION

Comedian Frank DeLima often worked on the same stage with Ho and got plenty of opportunity to refine his impersonation of him. "At the Polynesian Palace, he was the performer before me, so every night I would study him while he was on stage," DeLima said. Finally, DeLima got up the courage to do an impersonation while Ho was in the house. "I had a big messy wig, a coat like his and big dark glasses," DeLima said. "And then I'd go on stage and start to mumble." Ho loved the act. "I knew he would because he was always supportive of all the other entertainers he met," DeLima said.

THE ICON

"We saw Don Ho perform only once in the spring of 2006 and what a memorable event it was," said Karen Julson of Onalaska, Wis. "At the time, it was very evident that he was dealing with some health issues but he entertained us all evening. I cried when the audience sang 'Tiny Bubbles' — ranks right up there with 'The Star Spangled Banner.' "

THE PROM NIGHT

Tina Hoe of Honolulu said she and her friends went to see Don Ho on their prom night. "However, you had to be 21 years old to get in," she said. "He would have the waiters open the windows/doors so his music could be heard by everyone throughout the Market Place. And he would recognize everyone there and play them a special tune."

THE LONG MEMORY

"Don Ho, pulled me out of the audience in 1960 to sing with him while at the International Market Place," said Paul Niemeyer of Roanoke, Va. "I enjoyed it so much. I came back to Hawai'i in the 1990s and saw Mr. Ho again, and he actually seemed to remember me."

THE DAYS AT HONEY'S

"I have so many fond memories, going all the way back to the old days at Honey's, and Duke's that I do not know where to even begin," said Don Eads. "I remember playing with Don and hanging out for those famous late-night jams when I was working with Zulu. He has left us a vision of what Hawaiian music can do for a hurting and troubled world."

LONG-DISTANCE CONTACT

Kaleolani Fitzgerald says Ho's music has helped her keep Hawai'i close to the heart, even though she has lived on the Mainland for many years. "In 1960, we had a group working a show at the Waikiki Biltmore Penthouse," she remembered. "After our show, we went across to Honey's. He was grateful to us. In 1968, my 6-year-old daughter danced on stage with him and the Ali'is in Sunnyvale, Calif. I have pictures with Uncle Donald and my daughter with the 'gang.' It was a joy to sing along with him and friends."

GRADUATION KEEPSAKE

"I remember my best friend and I went to see him the year we graduated from high school (1982)," said Michael Heu of San Diego. "I think I still have a bottle of 'Tiny Bubbles' somewhere."