Bob Sigall, a familiar name among readers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, is the creative mind behind the weekly column, Rearview Mirror, that shares stories and history about Hawai‘i’s people, places and businesses. With a natural knack for making history accessible, Sigall adds a signature dose of charm and an endless sense of curiosity and admiration for Hawai‘i’s past in his prose providing his readers with a sense of identity and awareness.
In one of his columns, Sigall identified each reference Mitchell made to places here in Hawai‘i, including Foster Botanical Gardens and The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, in her catchy title, “Big Yellow Taxi”.
“I think it (the column) tells us who we are today, it’s not just things that happened to other people,” remarked Sigall in a 2019 interview.1 “We are the remnant of that history and we are thrown into the world from those people and those events that happened in the past…And that is why I write a column every week, is to try and capture some of this history before we have lost it.”
Sigall’s passion for history fuels his research and writing of Rearview Mirror which he began in 2011. Prior to that, since 1978 he has been a business consultant, consulting with over 1,000 local Hawai‘i companies. He also taught marketing and management at Hawai‘i Pacific University for 15 years and with the help of his students, researched and wrote a popular series of books entitled The Companies We Keep.
Historic Hawai‘i Foundation is thrilled to recognize Sigall for Rearview Mirror and all his contributions to Hawai‘i with an Achievements in Interpretive Media Preservation Award. His love and respect for our Islands is an integral part of who he is and we celebrate him as a skillful storyteller, educator, continuous learner, and ally in the world of historic preservation.
Longtime friend Alice Tucker, who nominated Sigall for the Award, shares her aloha for him, saying,
“At times words speak louder than actions. Bob’s words in his column have made thousands of Hawai‘i residents aware of the historic treasures in our midst. Hawai‘i owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Bob. He has given painless history lessons to his thousands of readers and has been responsible for saving some important historic locations and structures throughout the Hawaiian Island chain.”
The 46th Annual Preservation Honor Awards Ceremony will be held as an online event on Wednesday, July 22nd from 5:00 p.m. Please visit the Preservation Awards page to register.
1Looking at the Rearview Mirror, Think Tech Hawai‘i, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwkelen7Pm0