Site search
sponsored by
News
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Eddie Wilson was half Hawaiian, so he knew things about which I didn't have a clue. As an example, 30 years ago, he told me in a casual conversation while fishing, that he stored the razor blade he shaved with inside a Styrofoam pyramid between shaves, and on account of the “power of the pyramid,” he hardly ever had to purchase a razor blade.
I told him he should try storing his blade in olive oil and that way he might never have to buy another blade in this lifetime. Of course he challenged me to a wager, as was his way, and we asked our mutual Barber, Ms. Kokubun, to moderate our dispute.
We gave Ms. Kokubun two twin blades from the same package and she agreed to store them in her shop in Wailuku, one inside Eddie's pyramid, and the other in my olive oil. Each morning she would shave us, using the blades equally, but never divulging which blade she was using.
This went on for three weeks, until I yelped one morning and told Ms. Kokubun I could not stand another shave with that particular blade. She smiled broadly, handed me my “olive oil” blade and instructed me to donate $50 to the Maui United Way, as per my agreement with Eddie Wilson.
That was just one of many bets I lost to Eddie in my life on Maui. He understood more about Hawaiian spirituality than my other friends, and I always respected him for that.
It was Eddie who came up with the expression, “Here today — gone to Maui.” He was head of the Hawaiian Visitors Bureau for Maui at the time and that slogan did as much for the Valley Isle back then as, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” does for Clark County today.
But Eddie had too good a heart for the job he held. When United Airlines announced they wanted direct flights to Maui, Eddie responded with, “Keep us off the freeway.”
He knew he would be fired for those words and he was, but that was not a problem for Eddie, for he knew he could live off of the land and the sea while continuing to entertain his friends without missing a beat.
During those slow moving, rudderless days on Maui, whenever I saw Eddie “Too Tall” Wilson coming down the road I knew my work day was over and the party was about to begin.
On Tuesday I received a call from on old Waikapu friend who told me Eddie was riding his favorite old horse Ms. Bud down Halemau'u Trail, like they had done so many times before, when Ms. Bud slipped and they plunged to their deaths together.
I suspect neither Ms. Bud nor Eddie ever hit the rocks below, but were lifted by an unseen Hawaiian hand that shepherded them to a realm beyond my earthly comprehension.
Mark Twain said about Ulysses Grant, “dying is nothing to a really great and brave man.” Well, that was Eddie. I only knew him 10 years, but my life has been richer for the association, and I feel his loss 30 years later as though today were Friday, June 5, 1979.
McAvoy Layne is an Incline Village resident who visits area schools as the ghost of Mark Twain.
I told him he should try storing his blade in olive oil and that way he might never have to buy another blade in this lifetime. Of course he challenged me to a wager, as was his way, and we asked our mutual Barber, Ms. Kokubun, to moderate our dispute.
We gave Ms. Kokubun two twin blades from the same package and she agreed to store them in her shop in Wailuku, one inside Eddie's pyramid, and the other in my olive oil. Each morning she would shave us, using the blades equally, but never divulging which blade she was using.
This went on for three weeks, until I yelped one morning and told Ms. Kokubun I could not stand another shave with that particular blade. She smiled broadly, handed me my “olive oil” blade and instructed me to donate $50 to the Maui United Way, as per my agreement with Eddie Wilson.
That was just one of many bets I lost to Eddie in my life on Maui. He understood more about Hawaiian spirituality than my other friends, and I always respected him for that.
It was Eddie who came up with the expression, “Here today — gone to Maui.” He was head of the Hawaiian Visitors Bureau for Maui at the time and that slogan did as much for the Valley Isle back then as, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” does for Clark County today.
But Eddie had too good a heart for the job he held. When United Airlines announced they wanted direct flights to Maui, Eddie responded with, “Keep us off the freeway.”
He knew he would be fired for those words and he was, but that was not a problem for Eddie, for he knew he could live off of the land and the sea while continuing to entertain his friends without missing a beat.
During those slow moving, rudderless days on Maui, whenever I saw Eddie “Too Tall” Wilson coming down the road I knew my work day was over and the party was about to begin.
On Tuesday I received a call from on old Waikapu friend who told me Eddie was riding his favorite old horse Ms. Bud down Halemau'u Trail, like they had done so many times before, when Ms. Bud slipped and they plunged to their deaths together.
I suspect neither Ms. Bud nor Eddie ever hit the rocks below, but were lifted by an unseen Hawaiian hand that shepherded them to a realm beyond my earthly comprehension.
Mark Twain said about Ulysses Grant, “dying is nothing to a really great and brave man.” Well, that was Eddie. I only knew him 10 years, but my life has been richer for the association, and I feel his loss 30 years later as though today were Friday, June 5, 1979.
McAvoy Layne is an Incline Village resident who visits area schools as the ghost of Mark Twain.
