Читать книгу The Gang of Four - Bob Santos - Страница 14
Оглавление“It was he
(Uncle Joe),
more than anyone
else, who first
shaped Bobby’s
early political
awareness.”
But the fighting took its toll on Sammy. His eyesight grew increasing worse, ultimately becoming blind. Bobby had to become his father’s eyes. Sammy lived in Room 306, a small apartment that measured nine by 13 feet in the N.P. Hotel, named after the Northern Pacific Railway, in the heart of what was then known as Japantown.
Each Saturday, Bobby took his father by the arm to visit his father’s favorite hangouts in Chinatown: the Jackson Cafe or the Paramount Cafe for breakfast, the barber shops for a shave and haircut, Duke’s II for beer, the Filipino Improvement Club for lunch, a bathhouse for an afternoon soak, and the Bataan Recreation Club for visits with friends.
One of Bobby’s earliest memories was seeing Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz in 1940 at the Atlas Theater on Maynard Avenue South. For ten cents, Bobby was hooked on Saturday matinee movie serials featuring the adventures of Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. He was frightened and entranced by kabuki dancers at the Nippon Kan Theater. Higo’s was a popular novelty store where a dime bought a couple of comic books with a couple of pennies to spare for candy. Ice cream treats could be had at Chick’s Ice Creamery in a storefront at the Bush Hotel.
Chinese food, Japanese food, Filipino food, and American food--it didn’t matter--Bobby had his choice of restaurants and cuisine. There was the Paramount Cafe, the Golden Pheasant, across the street from the N.P. Hotel on Sixth Avenue South, Gyokko-Ken at Fifth Avenue South and South Main, Don Ting Restaurant, and the Hong Kong Restaurant on Maynard, very popular with the Filipino ‘Alaskeros’ (Alaskan cannery workers) because it was located in the center of what was considered Manilatown.
Early life in Seattle was good for young Bobby.
Infant Bobby and his mother Virginia Nichol.
Photo courtesy Santos collection
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