Back in 1989, when I worked at the Three Lives and Company bookshop on West 10th Street, I made friends with a boy who would come in a couple of times a week and buy several books and then stand and talk about all kinds of things. This was Billy Neil, who came from Hawaii and was living for a time in New York. He was nothing if not exuberant, about everything, and when he left New York finally, we stayed in touch. He became a marvelous landscape artist, among his many talents, and ended up back in Hawaii, in the up-country of Maui. On visiting him, one of the main attractions was the wonderful Mrs. Florence Ching, who ran a general store not too far from where Billy lived. Thanks to her affection for him, I think, Mrs. Ching granted us an interview, which to this day is one of my favorites from all the Goodies, even though it is also one of the shortest.
When I last checked, Mrs. Ching was doing just fine and still running her store and gas station.
If you would like a copy of her Goodie, please use the pay pal button on the Shop page of this site. Goodies are $3.00 plus $2.00 postage in the United States. For foreign orders, please send me an email.