Hawaii Public Radio staff and friends gathered last night to say “Aloha” to colleague Jim Manke, who is heading off to Oregon in a couple of weeks with his wife, Joan.
Jim says they’re really moving, since the car is being shipped. That’s when you know it’s gone from theory to reality.
Jim’s been at HPR full time since stepping out of a public affairs job at the University of Hawaii.
From a recent column in the Star-Advertiser by Erika Engle:
Manke, 69, was KGMB’s assignment editor and, later, news director but also was an anchor and news director at KITV in the late 1960s and hosted classical music shows and anchored news on KAIM and the old KHVH all-news radio, respectively.
“I’ve never really characterized what I’ve done as a career. I’ve been really fortunate to have one interesting job after another,” he said. He has worked in government public affairs in Saipan; was press secretary to the late Patsy Mink in Washington, D.C.; was a staff member for Gov. John Waihee; and worked in public affairs at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
Stay tuned for a short video of what Jim had to say at last night’s party.
In the meantime, click on his photo for a few more pictures.
What a privilege it’s been to have Jim’s counsel from time to time and learn from him even though I usually was on the Big Island, not Honolulu. I’ll miss him.
aloha, Sherry Bracken (Hawaii Island news reporter for HPR)
Manke will be sorely missed, and not only in our basement newsroom. Hawaii has lost one of its great journalists.
He’d probably have you believe his work is no big deal, “I just pushed buttons and read into a microphone.” But his instinct and intellect have raised the profile of Hawaii Public Radio and “All Things Considered.” Jim’s unflappable disposition and Murrow-type voice made him a perfect companion to NPR types like Robert Siegel.
It won’t be the same on Monday without him in the next cubicle.
Aloha, Jim.
- Ben (HPR reporter)