Today is the birthday of Don Ho, Hawaiian-American musician. Don was born in Hawaii and joined the Air Force in 1954 at age 23, just a few years after marrying his high school sweetheart. 

Don and his wife Melva moved to California per Don’s job in the Air Force. While there, he picked up an electronic keyboard to accompany his voice. (He had already done a bit of singing as a young man at his Mom’s bar in Hawaii.) 

Not many years later Don Ho left the Air Force and returned to Hawaii to take care of his ailing mother and her bar, Honey’s. Soon, Don found himself performing as the headliner for the bar. As his popularity as an entertainer spread, Don was asked to headline at another bar, Duke’s. Duke’s was a popular spot for celebrities and executives on vacation and Don would be ‘discovered’ by a music agent there. 

Don Ho signed with Reprise Records and would go on to have a successful career over multiple decades. He was able to capitalize on the wave of tourists from America to the newest state in the union (Hawaii). He became a pop icon and, in addition to his own short-lived variety show, Don Ho made appearances on TV shows such as I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch, Batman, and Charlie's Angels.

Despite a persona as an “easygoing romantic rogue,” Don Ho remained married to his high school sweetheart Melva until her death in 1990. Don Ho passed away in 2007.

And today is the birthday of Annie Oakley, American sharpshooter. 

Born on the plains of America in 1860, Annie had a hard life. Annie’s father died when she was just six. A few years later, destitute and desperate, her mother “rented” nine-year-old Annie as a servant to a well-to-do but cruel family. The arrangement lasted a grueling two years. 

When Annie returned home she began to trap and hunt. At first, it was simply a means of survival: her hunting put food on the table. But then, as her talent developed, Annie used it to bring in money. She would sell whatever the family couldn’t eat, first, to local shops, then found a vendor who would sell her catches to hotels and restaurants in the large towns and cities of Ohio. With the income, Annie was able to feed her siblings and even helped her mother pay off the mortgage on their home. 

Annie’s career as an entertainer started when she entered into a shooting contest with two traveling frontiersmen. Frank Butler placed a bet that he could shoot better than any local marksman. A resident Hotelier took him up on that bet and presented five-foot, fifteen-year-old Annie Oakley as his competition. Oakley won, impressing Butler who began to court her. The two married a year later. 

Throughout her successful and well-paid career, Annie and her husband donated to charity. Annie was adamant that women should learn to use guns as a means to protect themselves from preadators, particularly given the lawlessness of the West at the time. 

Annie Oakley was a powerful image for young girls in the first decades of the 1900s. She advocated for women to receive more independence and education and is the undisputed inspiration for the image of the “cowgirl.” She used her story as proof that women were as capable as men when given the same opportunities. 

 

e.e. cummings

 

in the rain-

darkness,        the sunset

being sheathed i sit and

think of you

 

the holy

city which is your face

your little cheeks the streets

of smiles

 

your eyes half-

thrush

half-angel and your drowsy

lips where float flowers of kiss

 

and

there is the sweet shy pirouette

your hair

and then

 

your dancesong

soul.      rarely-beloved

a single star is

uttered,and i

 

think

           of you