In 1994 I began organizing a symposium (held at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming in May of 1995) to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the closing of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center. Though I had never met Lane Hirabayashi prior to that, I asked him to participate in the program as a presenter. To which he agreed. Though our time together was short, I met with Lane, and was introduced to his “partner” Marilyn. I immediately thought, “what nice people.”

The papers from that program were edited into a book, and several were also included in a special issue of Peace & Change: The Journal of Peace Research. Having spent a great deal of time arguing with the editors of Peace & Change, and not knowing my contributors that well, I sent Lane a note explaining that I hoped he would not take offense to a couple of small editing changes I made to his piece as the editors were about ready to drop me and the project. Lane’s response was, “whatever you come up with is fine.” From then-on we were friends.

A few years after the Heart Mountain symposium, a mutual acquaintance, Carolyn Takeshita, had organized a teacher training workshop, which was also held at Northwest College in Powell. That was the first time I was able to work with Lane in a situation where we were both presenters. Though I had no teaching position at the time, throughout the program Lane always referred to me as “Professor Mackey.”

During that time period I received a note from Lane in which he seemed to be concerned with his teaching methods because, he explained, he had one student in a seminar he just could not reach. All I could think of was, “My god, how many professors at colleges or universities just don’t care if they reach their students.” Once again, all I could think of was “What a great guy (I hope he doesn’t get an ulcer over this).”

Over the years Lane gave several of my books very generous reviews. If I did not hear from him for some time, I would, out of the blue, receive a note asking how my family was and if I was doing well.

The last time I got to visit with Lane in person was when he, as George and Sakaye Aratani Chair, and Director of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA, sponsored a program on Heart Mountain at JANM in LA. That visit was too short.

A few years ago, the relative (Pam Hashimoto) of a soldier (Fred Yamamoto) from Heart Mountain, killed in World War II (whom I had written about), proposed to the school board in Palo Alto, Calif. that since Fred was a Palo Alto native, and a war hero, perhaps they might consider naming a school after him. Some school board members pushed back on the proposal. When I mentioned this to Lane and our good friend Art Hansen, both wasted no time in sending along letters of support.

Lane and I were in contact, via e-mail, several times a week after he began his battle with cancer. His first note to me said, “Don’t tell Carolyn (always considering others). He was always positive, and never down. We discussed many topics, including his wife Marilyn’s work on Carlos Bulosan. One afternoon, having not heard from Lane for about a week, I received a phone call from Roger Daniels telling me that Lane had passed. We had a lengthy discussion (about two hours) telling Lane Hirabayashi stories.

Lane was a first-rate scholar, great organizer, first tier humanitarian, and friend. I miss him.

Mike Mackey is the author/editor of 12 books, five of which deal specifically with the Japanese American experience. As part of his work on Japanese Relocation Mike has served as guest editor for special issues of Journal of the West, and Peace and Change: The Journal of Peace Research, while also authoring chapters in several books. The views expressed in the preceding commentary are not necessarily those of the Nichi Bei News.