Kahana-The Untold Stories
Page 17
“Then Thalia said that there was also another way of thinking called the ‘maze mindset.’ It’s a way of thinking that makes us strong and prepares us for the changes we will experience in life.”
“To show me what she meant, Thalia drew a maze in the sand with lots of tunnels of different lengths, sizes, and measurements. Some of the tunnels merged with others, and some were dead ends. When Thalia finished creating the maze, she placed two shells down at the bottom of it. She told me that the yellow shell belonged to her and the blue shell was mine. Then we took turns moving our shells. I tried to beat Thalia, but she was the one to make it out of the maze first.”
“I congratulated her and told her that I liked her take on life. It made sense to me. Then I asked her how she learned about the maze of life. She told me that she learned it from one of her teachers at their ritual area. She bragged that Hawaii wasn’t the only island that instructs the children in ritual areas.”
Sandy says, “Kim, I am convinced that we were supposed to be in that restaurant today. We were supposed to hear those people’s stories. I know it, and you know it, too.”
Kim asks Sandy, “Remember when Ryan had his defining moment?”
Sandy nods that she does.
Kim says, “I know now when my defining moment happened. I know when I discovered the signs that would lead to my destiny. It was when Yakima Canutt asked me, ‘So you want to be a stuntman?’ I was passionate when I said that I did. I told him about my hardcore journey through life. As I spoke, I saw that all the bad stuff that happened to me had taught me how to be a stuntman.”
Sandy responds, “You’re right. And I’m right too, because stuntmen are the gladiators of this century. I also believe that you were supposed to find that picture tonight.”
Kim says, “I never talked about the things I said tonight except with Thalia that one time, which was so long ago. I was raised to keep my feelings to myself. A lot has been lifted from my shoulders tonight, but there is one thing that has haunted me all my life.”
“It was the Korean War. None of my men survived, and I was the only one who did. Why? Why me?”
Sandra tells Kim. “I believe that you survived so many hardships in life because you were meant to tell your story.” Kim looks at her and nods his head in agreement. They slowly get up off the floor. Kim places the photograph in a frame and puts the picture on his bureau. Then as they head out of the bedroom, Kim turns off the light.
The End
Thank you for reading Kahana-The Untold Stories. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?
Thanks!
Ann Kennedy
Dedication
Kahana-The Untold Stories would not have been possible without Kim Kahana’s contributions. I am honored that he entrusted me to author his untold stories in a fictious manner. I hope that Kim’s story will inspire and empower children, teenagers, adults and seniors throughout the world.
When I began this book, I asked Kim about what he wanted to acknowledge or who he wanted to dedicate this book too. I felt it was important for him to have a Dedication of his own. The Dedication he gave me was what he wrote. It became one of my driving forces in authoring his story.
Dedication by Kim Kahana, Sr.
To The Pioneer Stunt Performers that gave us the knowledge, if not for them we would not be working today.
To The Producers that saw a future in action films.
To The Stuntmen’s Association Of Motion Pictures, Inc., which i was a member.
To All the Special People that made my career possible
To My Family for supporting my dreams!
To The Thousands Of Students that went thru Kahana’s Stunt & Film School!
In the days of the silent movies there was little technical know-how. There was no special training or equipment for a stuntman only courage and agility helped stunt people perform their death defying feats. Most of the people were professional circus performers, race car drivers, pilots, and most of all the “cowboys.”
Acknowledgements
I want to thank my husband, Bobby Kennedy, for the support he gave me in countless ways. He truly was my unsung hero. He did so many tasks of our daily life to give me the time necessary to author this book. He contributed even more of his time to be the technical editor.
Steve Caverno contributed on many levels. He used his photographic skills to resize and restore all of Kim Kahana’s photos for publicity and the future hard cover book. He also set-up and coordinated the audio production for the audio book. I am grateful that he was always there for me to answer any of my questions.
Angela Kennedy, my daughter, brought her creativity as an experienced actor and reader to our meetings. She always hit the mark to bring the characters to life. Her belief in the project and her love and support throughout the process of completing the book meant the world to me.
Brenda Darnley Martin was the proof reader and copy editor on the first draft. I appreciated her abundance of knowledge, positive attitude and excellent skills. I wish I had 10 more projects just to have the opportunity to work with her again and again.
Edit-24/7, an editing service in Los Angeles, exceled in their final light copy editing and proof reading. Everything I had heard about their excellent work was true. Their professionalism, expertise and positive attitude created a rewarding experience for me.
Lucille Horak was the fact checker and researcher. It was not an easy task since the stories in the book covered over 100 years. Her experience as a magazine/newspaper writer and television interviewer gave her an abundance of skills to discover pertinent, detailed information about the social history features of the story. I am lucky that she was a big part of this project.
Sandra Kahana, Kim’s wife, was the consultant on this project. I was inspired by her belief and passion about the book. The important information, facts and details she provided were invaluable. She brought the project to a higher level because of her meaningful contributions.
About the Author
Ann has an abundance of experience in teaching, authoring successful plays, dinner theatre productions and television shows. She is a former certified Kindergarten through 12th grade Florida teacher. She received the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Recognition Teacher Award.
She also received an Honorary Award from the Beverly Hills Theater Guild for authoring her social history, intergenerational play a Forgotten Treasure. Some of the many other plays and shows she wrote were for high school productions, fundraising events and for the public. She was an Explorer Advisor for a troupe of teenagers under the Boy Scouts of America. Her high-school troupe was the first performing arts troupe in the country.
She produced and wrote the multi award winning tv series Tampa Bay Connection for four years and Teens Bay Area Connection for another four years under Vision Cable and then Time Warner. The categories of her fourteen 1st place awards included documentaries, entertainment and public affairs.