Tony Hazapis dies, but will forever be remembered

Tony Hazapis, former executive director of the Seattle AFTRA office (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), died March 22, 2008, in Seattle. He had been hospitalized since December.

Tony was such an incredible, phenomenal human being and accomplished so much in his lifetime of service to mankind and to our AFTRA union members in particular. He was a great guy, a bright guy, had a wonderful laugh and a winning way with people.

He used to listen to my radio show, The Overnight Club on KOMO AM 1000, from Seattle. His favorite song of all time was Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto. The song was originally a hit in the 1960s, but it remained Tony's favorite song throughout his entire life. He'd call me on-the-air occasionally to request that I play it for him.

We became friends through work-related issues surrounding my employment and lack thereof, and kept in touch off and on over the years.

Ironically, it was only a few months ago that I heard Sukiyaki being played on the radio in the middle of the night on 570 AM KVI, Seattle, as bumper music during Coast to Coast AM with George Noory (Art Bell's former haunt).

Instantaneously, when I heard Sukiyaki wafting out of my radio speaker here at home, I thought of Tony and all the times he had called me to play that song for him. I dashed off an e-mail to him and told him that if per chance he was still awake and could turn the radio on to KVI and do it quickly, he could still hear the rest of Sukiyaki.

Tony was awake. He was astonished that I was awake...and that I was still remembering after all these years that he loved that song so much. He picked up the phone and called me since he knew by then that I was awake also -- even though it was after midnight.

We talked for a couple of hours. We laughed a lot. I don't even remember now what all we talked about, but we covered a lot of ground.

The irony of that conversation was that over the years Tony has been building a collection of recordings of Sukiyaki by various artists not just the original one in Japanese, but he even had acquired a more recent version in Spanish. I think there were nine of them altogether. As we talked, Tony played each of those renditions of Sukiyaki into the telephone for me. It was hilarious. Nutty as hell, but hilarious, simple, heartwarming, innocent fun and sharing. Tony's wife, Dale, was somewhat bemused by our wackiness and affinity for Sukiyaki, but she was tolerant of it and was good natured about all the laughter in the middle of the night...and the endless playing of Sukiyaki.

Little did I realize that that would be the last time I'd ever hear Tony's voice. I'm so glad that we had that time together to share our thoughts and his joy in particular, his pride and joy in having amassed a collection of recordings of Sukiyaki.

You'd think with all of the really, really big deals in his life (union contracts and other labor matters, dispute resolutions, etc) that those would have been the really big deals.

But I think one of the simple pleasures that he took such pride in was having built a collection of music -- variations on a theme, you might say -- various artists' interpretations of his all-time favorite song Sukiyaki.

The circle of life is complete. In this context, it began with Tony Hazapis calling me and asking me to play Sukiyaki for him. It ended with our last conversation, when Tony played Sukiyaki for me.

When I hear Sukiyaki, I'll think of Tony. I hope you will, too. As a tribute to Tony and his love of that song, I'm including the lyrics here...

Sukiyaki Lyrics (English)
It's all because of you,

I'm feeling sad and blue

You went away,

Now my life is just a rainy day and I love you so,

How much you'll never know

You've gone away and left me lonely.
Untouchable memories

Seem to keep haunting me

Another love so true,

That once turned all my gray skies blue

But you disappeared,

Now my eyes are filled with tears

And I'm wishing you were here

With me soaked with love

all my thoughts of you

Now that you're gone

I just don't know what to do

If only you were here,

You'd wash away my tears

The sun would shine,

Once again you'll be mine all mine

But in reality,

you and I will never be 'cause

You took your love away from me.
ChorusGirl,

I don't know what I did to make you leave me

But what I do know is

That since you've been gone

there's such an emptiness inside,

I'm wishing you to come back to me.
If only you were here,

You'd wash away my tears

The sun would shine,

Once again you'll be mine all mine

But in reality,

You and I will never be 'cause

You took your love away from me.

Oh -- Baby you took your love away from me.

Sukiyaki Lyrics (Japanese)

Ue o muite arukou

Namida ga kobore naiyouni

Omoidasu harunohi

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Ue o muite arukou

Nijinda hosi o kazoete

Omoidasu natsunohi

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Shiawase wa kumo no ueni

Shiawase wa sora no ueni

Ue o muite arukou

Namida ga kobore naiyouni

Nakinagara aruku

Hitoribotchi no yoru

WhistlingOmoidasu akinohi

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Kanashimi wa hosino kageni

Kanashimi wa tsukino kageni

Ue o muite arukou

Namida ga kobore naiyouni

Nakinagara aruku

Hitoribotchi no yoru

Visit Legacy.com to record your own online greeting for Dale and the family.

Tony Hazapis' life on Earth ends, but legacy lives on

Tony Hazapis lived in Oregon and listened to my late-night radio show on 50,000-watt KOMO from Seattle. Tony joined The Overnight Club and would call in a request from time to time, always for the same song -- his all-time favorite -- Sukiyaki by Kyu Sakamoto from the 1960s. I always enjoyed our telephone conversations during the radio program. See additional tribute to Tony at and more details about Sukiyaki. http://emeraldprincessa.blogger.com/

As time went on, Tony, who was an attorney, eventually moved from Oregon to Washington where he became the executive director of the Seattle local unit of AFTRA while I was still employed at KOMO, because I stayed nearly ten years at AM 1000.

AFTRA is the labor union for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
Tony was well-known, well-liked, highly regarded by all who turned to him for assistance with various labor-related issues both in the workplace and upon termination. He helped so many people. He was a rock. He had a deep, inner, abiding strength and calmness, a confidence that he exuded. He really knew his stuff. He knew the law. He knew the union contracts. He knew the regulations. And best of all he knew how to ensure that he would prevail on behalf of the AFTRA members.

Tony died last Saturday, March 22, 2008, in Seattle, after having been hospitalized since December 2007. I was profoundly sadded on learning of his death. What a loss!

I invite you to read Tony's obituary notice in the Seattle Times newspaper:
http://www.legacy.com/NWclassifieds/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=106411224

To post and share your own memories of Tony or to write a note or condolence to his wife and family, or even just to read the anecdotes I've shared about Tony in the online Guest Book, visit
http://www.legacy.com/NWclassifieds/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=106411224

Noose news: will Duke be lynched?

Duke's Chowder House has three Seattle locations, plus one each in Kent, and in Tacoma, Washington.

dukeschowderhouse.com

For the past couple of years I have subscribed to receive e-mail announcements and coupon specials from Duke's.

Today I received the offer shown here featuring Duke's deer-in-the-headlights photo with a noose hanging prominently in the picture with the caption "Managers blame Duke for recession." The ad conveys that Duke faces lynching by his restaurant managers.

Funny? Comical? Knee-slapping hilarity?

I wrote to Rich Carr of Duke's marketing department and expressed revulsion at seeing a noose in their advertising. I did not find it appetizing nor would it entice me to patronize the restaurant. I added that the noose as a symbol would also be especially offensive to African-Americans.

Rich Carr replied with the following statement (italics supplied):

The imagery, the verbiage, the impact of the message were all developed to cut through the clutter of your average email and/or marketing campaign. And, while we acknowledge your viewpoint, we also meant this to be ‘tongue in cheek’ as ALL Duke’s emails are. I don’t see the reference to African-Americans as you state, as the history of the hangman’s noose go back to Colonial America as well as England during the 16th and 18th centuries as a form of capital punishment. Period. Will it be used all the time, certainly not. Is it a powerful image that relates to Duke’s missive, yes. Does it spur people to read more? Certainly.

Most Duke’s Email Club members appreciate his sense of humor, use of imagery, and the text he writes himself. It’s Duke…his approach has never altered in his 30 years in business as the last thing we ever want to be is ‘another’ email, but something people talk about, buzz about, tell their friends about, and realize that humor in all its forms sometimes offends albeit that is certainly not our intention.

Again, I appreciate the feedback and will forward directly to Duke should he want to weigh in. However, I feel he’ll echo my comments as these collaborations are just that.

When he wrote, "I don't see the reference to African-Americans..." and continued the defense of the noose (referring to its use in "Colonial America and England in the 16th and 18th Centuries...") underscored how out of touch and insensitive he/they were in the use of the noose as a symbol for their advertising. 400 years of the unspeakable, shameful horrors of slavery and he does not "see the reference to African-Americans?"

I would bet any amount of money that he ran a Google search for the "history of the noose" before he wrote that little bit of trivia, that factoid that he threw back at me about "Colonial America and England"...yeah, right, like he had that on the tip of his tongue!

Hello?!?

I wrote again and set forth a couple of outrageous, hypothetical scenarios, which I was confident as a matter of good taste Duke's would never even consider using in an ad, simply as a means to make the point that African-American people have a profoundly different visceral reaction to the image of a noose anytime or anywhere and that reaction is different from how white people perceive it.

Duke's would be hard-pressed to find a Brit or other white person whose reaction would be the same as an African-American's painful reaction on seeing a noose utilized in an advertising campaign flippantly as if it is or can be an object of amusement.

• I challenged Duke's to show the ad to black employees and ask for their gut reaction to it.


• Does it make them proud to work for Duke’s?


• Or does it make them fear for their jobs or fear a hostile work environment? They may be afraid to answer truthfully


• I encouraged him to give employees an opportunity to weigh in on it.


• I suggested that Duke's distribute a simple, anonymous survey card that would only require a check mark as a reply:

“Seeing a noose in an ad for Duke’s: a) bothers me, b) doesn’t bother me.”

Rhetorically, I asked if they'd consider putting a "Whites Only" sign at the entrance or if the next ad campaign would feature Duke being "tarred and feathered." Of course not! It would be outrageous. I pointed out those scenarios in an effort to help Duke and Rich 'connect the dots' hoping they might come to realize that a noose is every bit as offensive.

Rich Carr replied that (italics supplied):

This is not a racial email, nor will we entertain attempts to take it that direction. Your ideas of ... have obvious racial undertones and in no way reflect anything we’d ever produce or distribute.

That's great news! I appreciate the affirmation.

It's unfortunate that Duke's didn't think through the implications of using lynching and a noose in their current ad prior to distribution of it. By blogging about this topic, creating dialogue about it, it is my hope that a broader understanding and insight will come about as a result. Readers and writers in the blogosphere can let their voices be heard. Lift every voice...