Im proud to have called Norman a colleague and a friend.

(Photo courtesy of California State Parks)By NORI UYEMATSUPatti Hirahara has been a preservationist of Japanese American history as well as a communications facilitator between the U.and to learn more about her Japanese heritage.

the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.her resume is impressive with her work at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.and her wealth of knowledge has helped her to intervene on issues a fourth-generation Japanese American would normally know nothing about.

Her tenacity afforded other Japanese American families the opportunity to tell their stories in the areas where they lived.She is also the last living Hirahara-surnamed descendant.

She and Shohei Ohtani were the only ones of Japanese descent listed among the honorees.

Coast Community College District; and Patti Hirahara.Maddoxs film was entered in many film festivals around the country at the behest of his summer school USC film instructor.

; Mary Kao; and Professor Wendy Cheng.Two special screenings were held in the Manhattan Beach area this year to sold-out audiences.

Bob DeCastro of Fox News interviewed Professor Cheng at Descanso Gardens.the final vote was 4-0-1 in favor to: keep the beach primrose as the ‘official native wildflower.