May 2009, No. 5, 42nd Year – HCR3, Box 10075, Keaau, HI 96749
The Creature from the Black Lagoon is coming to Hilo on Friday, June 19. The fish man is scabby, scaly, scary and politically incorrect.
But he’s free. The movie is one of three being presented by Franklin Zimring, son of Maurice Zimring, who wrote the movies and was also a founding member of the Big Island Press Club.
The occasion is the 100th anniversary of Maury’s birth. Franklin, a University of California at Berkeley law professor, gave a synopsis of the event. “We’re set for June 19th. Tentatively, we will show Barbara Stanwyck and Barry Sullivan in A Woman in Jeopardy (MGM 1953) at 4:00 pm.
Then the evening double bill will be The Creature From the Black Lagoon (Universal 1954) at 6:30 pm, followed by Lana Turner and Edmund Purdom in The Prodigal (MGM 1955).
Admission is free and the community is invited. June 19th, 1909 is Maury’s birthday. His Hollywood name was Maurice Zimm.” (Which is the name you should use if you want to Google him for more info.)
One present-day reviewer described Creature as “smirky,” but Maury’s fish man has enough staying power that Universal Studios Hollywood is planning a musical stage adaptation starting July 1.
A Woman in Jeopardy is tagged with the breathless line, “I’ll do anything…to save my husband.” And a helpful reviewer of The Prodigal notes that it is “adapted from the Bible.”
And the mayor is coming, later – Mayor Billy Kenoi will be the featured speaker at BIPC’s Scholarship Dinner, set for Friday, July 31 at the Coconut Grill, the same location as the Annual Dinner in January. We’ll send you reminders in June and July, but please put the date on your calendar now.
Brittany graduates – Northwestern University announces that Brittany Lynn Petersen is a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Journalism, Friday, June 19, Evanston, Illinois. We gave scholarships to Brittany for the past three years.
Change, Part 2 – In the February Gleanings, your editor advised that change would be coming to the club. Here are two of them, on the Web site and in the bylaws.
Change on the Web – After months of board indecision about fixing the static, stolid BIPC Web site, board member Wayne Joseph proposed early this month to do a remake with the help of independent blogger Damon Tucker. Within 24 hours of board approval, Wayne had the new site up and running. You can find it by going to the site in red letters in the masthead of this edition. Note that we are now a dot org rather than a dot com.
The new site has many interactive features, such as providing links to other Web sites and allowing readers to post comments.
But the big topic not yet decided is how public the club will make these newsletters. We have been emailing them to members. It would be simpler to post them on the web site and just send you a monthly reminder that the latest edition is available.
But should members alone be allowed to see them, or should they be open to anyone with Internet access, such as a scientist at the South Pole? At the moment, Gleanings can be seen on the new Net site only with the use of a password, which we are providing to club members separately.
To phrase the question differently, you can read the Gleanings because you have paid your dues. Should a nonmember who has not paid dues also be able to read them? Besides yes and no answers to that question, a third option is to use password protection for the current edition only. Back editions could be open to anyone.
You are welcome to express an opinion on this matter by sending an email to editor Rod Thompson at bearinpuna@gmail.com or to Web administrator Wayne Joseph at waiakeabigdog@yahoo.com.
Change in bylaws – Preliminary approval for a change in the BIPC bylaws amendment process has been voted by the board of directors. That may sound like a yawn, but in 42 years of existence, the Bylaws have become stiff and inflexible. What was a three-month amendment process in 1967 has become roughly a nine-month process in 2009. This proposal would restore the original three-month time frame.
The current process requires us to present any proposal to members in person at a general meeting, the next one being the Scholarship Dinner on July 31. After that, we have to wait until the Christmas Party before you can vote.
Look at the existing amendment process…and see if you can even understand it.
This constitution and these bylaws may be amended upon the recommendation of the executive board and with the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of professional members casting votes, providing such members residing outside of Hilo were advised at least ten (10) days in advance of said election and were extended an opportunity to cast an absentee ballot and provided that active and absentee ballots cast in the affirmative represent more than one-half (1/2) of the qualified electors.
Any and all proposed amendments to this constitution and these bylaws shall be submitted in writing by the proposer thereof at least ten (10) days prior to any regular meeting of the executive board; it shall then consider and shall report its recommendation thereon at the next general membership meeting. Final action on said amendment will be taken at the succeeding general membership meeting
Here’s a translation:
a) Introduction at the board of directors.
b) Consideration within a month (in 1967) at a meeting of the general membership.
c) A final vote a month later (in 1967) by Professional members at another general meeting.
That schedule is now impossible since we don’t have monthly membership meetings any more. Members meet only at the new-year Annual Installation Dinner, the summer Scholarship Dinner, and the winter Christmas Party.
Also, according to this, if you live in Hilo, you must come to a general meeting to vote. You can vote absentee only if you live outside Hilo.
The following is the proposed new language.
This constitution and these bylaws may be amended in the following manner. In all references to the club newsletter Gleanings, the board shall have the authority to select additional or alternative means of informing members.
First reading: When a proposed amendment is made to the board, an affirmative vote of not less than 6 of the 9 board members shall be required to present the proposal to the general membership.
Following an affirmative vote, the proposal shall be published in the next Gleanings, including the existing language and proposed new language. The following issue of the Gleanings shall include any member comment.
Second reading: Following the second notice in the Gleanings, at the following or any subsequent regular board meeting, the final text of the proposed amendment shall be determined by an affirmative vote of at least 6 of the 9 members of the board.
The final text shall be sent in ballot form to Professional members only, by e-mail to members who receive the Gleanings by e-mail, and by postal mail to members who receive the Gleanings by that method. Voting members shall have 14 calendar days to return their ballots.
Individual members may request secret ballots, and balloting for those individuals shall be conducted in a manner prescribed by a simple majority (five votes) of the board.
An election committee of at least two board members shall be designated. Each committee member shall receive duplicate copies of email ballots independently of other members. At the close of the designated balloting period, committee members shall verify e-mail ballot counts with each other and shall verify paper ballots. They shall report their findings to the board at a designated time.
The amendment proposal shall be deemed approved if more than half of the Professional members vote, and if at least two thirds of those votes are affirmative.
Jack Bryan turns 90 – Board member Tim Bryan gave this report after a recent visit to his father in Thailand. My dad, Jack Bryan celebrated his 90th birthday on April 26th. It is significant to the Big Island Press Club because he was one of the charter members of the club when it was formed back in the late 60s. That makes me a proud second-generation club member.
Pop was the Big Island bureau chief for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for many years while I was growing up. He later moved to Oahu to work on the desk as the night editor. He eventually retired, and after suffering from and then recovering from a broken hip, moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand where he currently is cared for by my brother, Jack Bryan III and his family. He is in good health, still enjoys daily walks and retains a sharp mind and wry humor.
And here’s proof of that sense of humor from Jack himself….
Today I am a NONAGENERIAN! I’ve progressed from being an Old Fart to a REALLY Old Fart. I’ve lived through six wars without hearing a shot fired in anger; two depressions without missing a meal; held interesting jobs on four continents and two islands, dragging my family along; and, lately, outlived unbelievable greed, stupidity and corruption on the part of our alleged leaders, the likes of George W. Bush and Bernie Madoff. Had I known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself. Love –Pop
Jack Bryan
