<Begin Segment 13>

LB: Can you tell me about the first time you met Fred and what your impressions were?

EY: When I first met Fred it wasn't at one of the big -- it was something smaller, I can't remember exactly. It was some kind of smaller event, I don't know if it was a fundraiser... and he's such a gentle man, a humble spirit, and this big old smile. And one of the first things he said to me was, "Oh, Hawaii, you're from Hawaii?" That, just the Hawaii thing just lit his eyes up. And he went right into, "Oh, when I was in jail waiting for my trial, the guy in my jail cell was from Hawaii, and so we talked all about Hawaii. And he told me about the beautiful women." [Laughs] He went on and on. I wanted to ask him about, "What's the case?" And, "Why are you standing up against injustice?" But he wanted to talk about Hawaii. It was just, he was so delightful and so real that it just made this really stark impression on me, like, "What a real person." And there must be something really special about him to be able to stand up in the way he did. And you could just feel for him, why people could really relate to him. He was an ordinary person in so many ways, and yet extraordinary.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.