Dennis Fujimoto is all ours. Some other people whose names appear in bylines in The Garden Island are not, which apparently needs some clarification. First, Fujimoto. Practically everybody on Kaua’i knows TGI’s one and only staff photographer. It’s impossible to
Dennis Fujimoto is all ours.
Some other people whose names appear in bylines in The Garden Island are not, which apparently needs some clarification.
First, Fujimoto. Practically everybody on Kaua’i knows TGI’s one and only staff photographer. It’s impossible to go anywhere with him and not have him recognized and stopped for a visit. In casual conversation, mention the newspaper and somebody will say they know him.
That’s because Fujimoto is more than a shutterbug, and a darn good one at that. He’s a community journalist in the truest sense. He’s also a popular one, which is unusual in itself. Journalists aren’t generally the best-liked people, since they rarely please everyone.
But Fujimoto comes as close as anyone to breaking that mold. A big reason is that he hardly ever misses a community event, whether it’s a craft show or an athletic contest, and especially is a soft touch for anything involving kids. Under the moniker of “The Happy Camper,” he writes a regular column that includes snippets of information and lots of names of Kaua’i folks from his rounds – the kind of stuff you don’t get much in newspapers except from community journalists.
To get everything done, Fujimoto has a schedule that makes you tired just reading it. He rarely takes a day off and works long hours to literally get from one end of the island to the other to give everyone their due.
He also is an islander through and through who seems to care about and help organize almost everything that goes on, from the annual Christmas parade to community outreach for the recently laid-off Amfac Sugar Kaua’i workers and their families.
And he’s never shy about giving advice on how groups can improve their community. He does, however, clam up when the focus is on him, as happened Tuesday when the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce named him its Humanitarian of the Year. A chamber banquet crowd that included Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, Mazie Hirono, heard Fujimoto say humbly that he didn’t deserve the award.
Yes you do, Dennis.
Now, about questions that readers have asked recently in response to various contributions to our Forum page:
• One article included a sentence describing the author as a freelance writer. We do that with all Forum articles so readers have an idea of the writer’s relevant background and whether they’re a Kauaian or a non-islander.
Among the responses were a letter whose writer suggested the freelancer had been paid for the article. No, the freelancer wasn’t compensated. The only writers who are paid for their Forum pieces are columnists, the ones whose pictures accompany their work. We do occasionally pay freelancers for news articles or features that appear elsewhere in the newspaper.
• Another reader wanted to know how to become a freelance writer and submit his own articles. That’s easy. Just write them and send them in.
And you don’t have to know Dennis Fujimoto.
TGI editor Pat Jenkins can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 227) and pjenkins@pulitzer.net
