<Begin Segment 33>

MU: Now as you look back, do you feel that your life was, let's say, successful? Overcoming all the difficulties you had during the war years and prewar years?

HW: I think pretty much. I haven't told you why I left Boeings. I left Boeing in 1971 because my blood pressure was 240/140 and the doctors couldn't get it down and I couldn't get it down. And so I just walked away from Boeing -- too early to, too young to retire.

MU: But, in the main, your life has been...

HW: I think so. I, after I left Boeing, I spent probably fifteen years working on various Seattle School District committees on a number of things, which was aside from working as a salesman and a part-owner of a lease company.

MU: Oh, you did all that?

HW: Yeah.

MU: Then, of course, you did lot of community work, too.

HW: Yeah. That's, schools and have been trying to do as much church-related work.

MU: Well, I think we'll come to a conclusion. Is there any -- one last thought or words of wisdom that you might like to pass on to us?

HW: [Laughs] Words of wisdom? Words of experience, whatever that expression is.

MU: Yeah, well, you learn through experience. Anything that comes to mind?

HW: Well, I would say one thing, okay. When I was in elementary school, the teacher would say, "Remember what you eat, because I'm gonna ask you to write it all down and we're gonna check your diets." And so when you write down everything, each meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner and then the teacher takes it away, and then it comes back, maybe a couple of weeks later after some dietician had looked at it. And the teacher would come to me and say, "Harvey, you've gotta eat less rice and more meat." Now that's what they're telling people, "Eat the carbos, but don't eat much meat." [Laughs]

MU: Less meat and more rice. [Laughs]

HW: And I think that has a lot to do with...

MU: One last question. How is your blood pressure now?

HW: It's still...

MU: Pretty high?

HW: ...yeah, still kinda high. Sometime the low end is at 100. And I'd like to have it 90 or below. The high end, once in a while sneaks up to 170 or 180. But I'd like to keep it like 140 to over 80 -- then I'd be real happy. But I think part of that has to do with -- I mean, the story I told about the food. It has something to do with the fact that I still have, you know, outside of my wisdom teeth I still have twenty-seven of my twenty-eight original teeth, so I can't complain. [Laughs]

MU: Boy, that's an accomplishment. Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, Harvey, thank you very much for a very interesting interview. You know, you've had a successful life from our view.

HW: Yeah, it's been happy.

MU: And, you know, your children are lucky to have you, and your grandchildren, too.

HW: Well, we're -- I'm lucky to have our children, and my wife and family.

MU: That's wonderful. Thanks a lot. You're really interesting.

HW: Thank you for having me.

<End Segment 33> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.