Page 7 - MidWeek Kauai - March 1, 2023

MARCH 1, 2023
KAUA‘I MIDWEEK 7
Chapman Proud Of The Mark He’s Left On Journalism
FROM PAGE 6
San Jose), Chapman got on his career path early. But he never dreamed it would take him to the Aloha State.
positive impact in the com- munity. He was a volunteer adviser to the student newspa- per at Moanalua High School, honorary chair for a fund- raiser dinner for Helemano Plantation in 2004; coached youth league baseball, soft- ball and soccer in Oregon and Hawai‘i; and served on the board of directors for the Hawai‘i Judiciary McGruff Committee, the Hawai‘i Cys- tic Fibrosis Foundation and Kalihi-Pālama Health Center.
The year was 1979, and a colleague told him about a job posting for The Honolulu Ad- vertiser, which was looking for a columnist in sports and for a daily three-dot column.
“The ad included a cartoon by legendary editorial car- toonist Harry Lyons, depict- ing a guy wearing aloha shirt, shorts and straw hat sitting under a coconut tree at the beach with a typewriter on his lap, a mai tai in one hand, and a hula dancer in the back- ground,” remembers Chap- man, who applied for both positions. “Buck Buchwach, the Advertiser’s senior editor, said my application was the 300th of 300 received. I got the dot-dot-dot job.”
Besides rooting for his favorite sports teams, Chapman spends retirement getting in quality time with his grandchildren: Cameron, 4, and Kylie, 8. PHOTO COURTESY DON CHAPMAN
He also helped found the School Community Based Management Board at Benja- min Parker Elementary when his son was a student there. And when his daughter was looking to join a volleyball club team (at the recommen- dation of former University of Hawai‘i coach Dave Shoji) but there were none in their Windward neighborhood, Chapman posted a notice in the Sun Press community newspaper about a volley- ball organizational meeting at Kailua District Park, and hundreds showed up and signed up.
Initially, he thought he would be in Hawai‘i for just a few years and then return to the West Coast, but he ended up staying at The Honolulu Advertiser for 13 years, cov- ering everything from politics and sports to entertainment to the talk of the town.
magazine, featuring local and national columnists with (political) opinions from both the right and left.”
much,” notes Chapman. “It takes a special kind of per- son with diverse skills to be a professional journalist, and if I was good at anything it was identifying those people, and hopefully mentoring and encouraging them along the way.”
“I married a local girl and had two kids who are part Ha- waiian and then I got custody (becoming a single dad) and I couldn’t move them off this island,” he explains. “Plus, I got pretty attached.”
He wrote many of the widely read cover stories, in- cluding some that turned into books. They include books about Mauna ‘Ala, the Royal Mausoleum (which earned him a Society of Profession- al Journalists award), and on Larry Mehau titled The Good Father. He also was awarded Sports Story of the Year from SPJ in 2009 for his coverage of The Eddie.
Following his retirement from MidWeek, he soon real- ized he wasn’t quite ready to stop working. So, he joined Trade Publishing, where he worked for the last six years and became editor of its Building Management Ha- wai‘i publication.
“There’s a quote ... people may or may not remember what you say, people may or may not remember what you do, but people will always re- member how you made them feel,” says Chapman. “I hope over the years, people I’ ve worked with — both people on staff and people I’ ve cov- ered, I’ ve left them feeling good ... feeling they’ d been treated fairly, positively and professionally.”
In 1994, Chapman joined MidWeek, proudly serving as editor for 22 years. Under his leadership, the weekly pub- lication grew from a “little shopper to a credible news
“One of the things of which I’m most proud is the quality of people I was able to bring into this profession I love so
In addition to making his mark in the journalism indus- try, Chapman has also had a
(Top) While Chapman may have penned many memorable lines, one of his best was something he actually said while coaching a sports team: “We’re only down by 12.” That line was engraved on a plaque and given to him. (Above) Living with Parkinson’s Disease has taught the former editor to appreciate those he comes in frequent contact with, including his landlord’s dog, Jagger.