The Garand Memory Caddy: A Time Capsule of JWG's Life (The Honolulu Diaries) Hardcover – February 23, 2026

Life. Time. Luck. Hope. Four entities which have become my Friends. In my Life, full of Hope, I have had the Luck to make many Friends — many of whom are still in my Life.Today, the seventh of December, is the birthday of one of my quirkiest, eccentric, and most loving of Friends. She is now eighty-four. She was, and is, my teacher. She has embraced René as well as me — and, is constantly encouraging us to explore new paths. Our Friendship goes back fifty years — more than fifty. My friend Time has been kind.In this diary, René and I visit many Friends who I have known for over five decades. We get together and reminisce. We can’t get over how close Friends have unwavering personalities. Basically, what we were then, we are now. It is always a joy to see these Friends face to face. Their embraces and kisses are reassuring. They are my chosen Family.The first entry in this Honolulu Diary states an idea of mine which I scribbled down. The empty cabinet my father made was not being used properly. I wished it to be the treasure it is. These pages tell of how it morphed to be The Garand Memory Caddy. Not much was put in it before we went to Switzerland. In Switzerland, this empty cabinet was not forgotten. In fact, knowing me, I spent too many moments considering what I would place within it.When we returned from Switzerland, via West Hollywood, I began, in earnest, transforming my empty cabinet into my personal mini-museum. Anyone who knows me knows of my love for museums. Oh, I did laugh, out loud, one day recently, when René told me I would have loved to be a curator for a museum. I agreed — heartily. I told him how, in 1976, when I was puppeteering in the Smithsonian Institution, walking by exhibits each day was entrancing. I was young — twenty-three — my Life’s plans were being an entertainer. I had no Time to consider anything else — or, so I thought. What if I had pursued working in a museum? What, and where, and how would my Life have changed? That is something to contemplate and scribble into a novel for my Life went in a different direction. This direction I will not alter even if I could. (How many people say that?) Oh, I suppose, if I could, I would tweak some of my directions — paths — as well as some of my attitudes. Nothing I have done has hurt anyone except myself.Well, I am beginning to sound like someone whose sentiment is fixed in the past. Going through what I have kept is my reasoning. Physical memories are different than mental ones. Like a single line in a diary, seeing what is in front of me gets my neurons researching what I have kept in my mind. What is the “why” the item before my eyes is special enough for me to have kept all these years? I am astonished at what I am capable of remembering.I realize much of what I kept is considered to be throw-away junk. I do giggle when I recall all that I have already tossed — or given — away. If I had everything I once had, here in Honolulu, René and I would require quite a few more rooms.Space, like Time, is a cherished commodity. I respect both. I respect each scrap I have. Ooh, harsh. What I have are not “scraps” for they are what I have touched and read. They are the skeletal support that has made me what I am today.Well, methinks this introduction has gone on too long. It is a pleasure for me to finish another diary. I am excited to now have The Garand Memory Caddy.Hmm, what will come next? Isn’t it fun to get up in the morning and face an empty page? For me, yes. Gracious! I did say “…this introduction has gone on too long”. Therefore, Friends, my Hope is that you will forgive my verbiage and enjoy — The Garand Memory Caddy. Read more