I Respectfully Dissent : A Biography of Edward H. Nakamura

Tom Coffman's portrait of Edward Nakamura is both insightful biography and engrossing political history. The arc of the story may sound familiar (the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the GI Bill, Statehood), but it is strewn with surprise, resulting from Nakamura's unshakable creed and unique angle of vision. Translating the political gains of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Nakamura played a central role--unpublicized--in devising arguably the most progressive program of legislation in an American state: universal health care, temporary disability insurance, collective bargaining rights for public workers, and more--all of which forever changed the Hawai'i worker's landscape. Vaulted from relative anonymity onto the Hawai'i Supreme Court, Nakamura was acclaimed for his powerful intellect, his writing, and, most of all, his iron will and integrity. In retirement, he became a dissenting moral force. He fought mismanagement in the State Retirement System, helped to block a highly controversial Supreme Court appointment, and agitated for separating the high court from the Bishop Estate. 28 illus

Painting has played a significant role in modern Vietnam. Postage stamps, billboards, and annual national exhibitions attest to its fundamental place in a country where painters may be hailed as national heroes and include among their number fervent nationalists, propagandists, even dissidents. As Vietnamese painting has gained prominence in the contemporary transnational art circuits of Southeast Asia, many artists have become millionaires, yet Vietnamese painting is generally overlooked in art history surveys of the region. Nora Taylor sets out here to change that. Painters in Hanoi engages with twentieth-century Vietnam through its artists and their works, providing a new angle on a country most often portrayed through the lens of war and politics.

Drawing on interviews with artists, cultural officers, curators, art critics, and others in Hanoi, Taylor surveys the impact artists have had on intellectual life in Vietnam. The book shows them within their own complex community, one fraught with tensions, politicking, and favoritism, yet also a sense of belonging. It describes their education, the role of the government in the arts, the rise and fall of individual artists, their influence as active players in the politics of place and gender, the audience for their work, and how tourism and the international art market have influenced it.

"Tom Coffman's portrait of Edward Nakamura is both insightful biography and engrossing political history. The arc of the story may sound familiar (the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the GI Bill, Statehood), but it is strewn with surprise, resulting from Nakamura's unshakable creed and unique angle of vision. Translating the political gains of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Nakamura played a central role--unpublicized--in devising arguably the most progressive program of legislation in an American state: universal health care, temporary disability insurance, collective bargaining rights for public workers, and more--all of which forever changed the Hawai'i worker's landscape. Vaulted from relative anonymity onto the Hawai'i Supreme Court, Nakamura was acclaimed for his powerful intellect, his writing, and, most of all, his iron will and integrity. In retirement, he became a dissenting moral force. He fought mismanagement in the State Retirement System, helped to block a highly controversial Supreme Court appointment, and agitated for separating the high court from the Bishop Estate. Against his background of comforting the afflicted, in retirement Nakamura afflicted the new "in" crowd, the smug and self-serving--fighting corruption, mismanagement, and the corrosive effect of Bishop Estate appointments on the Hawai'i courts."--Project Muse Contents Foreword Prologue Chapter One. Between Annexation and Pearl Harbor Chapter Two. The Transformative War Chapter Three. What Is Life’s Purpose? Chapter Four. A Lawyer for Workers Chapter Five. With Justice for All Chapter Six. Public Servant, Inner Being Chapter Seven. The Court’s Scholar Chapter Eight. The Supreme Court and Bishop Estate Chapter Nine. The Public’s Conscience The Jurisprudence of Justice Edward H. Na kamura Edward H. Na kamura Endowed Memorial Fund Supporters Notes Index