How {Ronald} '10-toes Takaki' changed U.S. history {obituary/tribute}

[eppur_se_muova]

updated 10:08 a.m. EDT, Wed June 3, 2009

By Jessica Ravitz
CNN

(CNN) -- From where he came, no one could have predicted what Ronald Takaki would become. Raised in a low-income area of Oahu, Hawaii, a descendant of Japanese immigrants who toiled in sugar cane plantation fields, he cared more about surfing than schoolwork.

But the boy who earned the nickname "10-toes Takaki," a reference to when surfers hang 10 toes over the front of a long board, went on to become a legendary ethnic studies scholar.

The pioneering and beloved professor of more than 30 years at University of California, Berkeley, and prolific author who helped change how American history is written, died on May 26.

Takaki, who had boundless energy, took his own life after battling multiple sclerosis for 15 years, his son, Troy, said. He was 70.
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Among his noted books are "Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America," "Strangers from a Different Shore: A History of Asian Americans," and "A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America."
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/06/03/ronald.takaki/index.html

[MadHound]

1. A damn shame, the man was an excellent historian. n/t