Rising Star

by David Garrow

In contrast to Scott, A Singular Woman, pp. 192–93, Dunham’s 1984 and 1993 timeline summaries indicate she did not return to Honolulu again in 1978 after departing for Indonesia in late May. On Obama at Baskin-Robbins, also most guardedly see Matt Pearl, “Kenmore Native Is Obama’s Former Teacher,” WGRZ.com, 21 January 2009. In the 26 March 2006 AP story, Obama also mentions working at “a burger chain,” with the apparent implication that this also was summer 1978.

  34. Tyler Dacey and Darwin Sen, “McLachlin Ends Sabbatical,” Ka Punahou, 22 April 1977, p. 6; Leslyn Leu, “AA Captures Tournament,” KP, 15 December 1978, p. 11; Punahou School Varsity AA Roster 1978–79 and 1978–79 Varsity AA Basketball Schedule (annotated with scores), Punahou Archives; Stephen Greaney, “Basketball Proves Power,” KP, 26 January 1979, p. 8; Layne Yamada and Heather Murakami, “Basketball Team Shoots for More Wins,” KP, 9 February 1979, p. 7; Sean Brennan, “Varsity Shows Spunk,” KP, 23 February 1979, p. 4; Clyde Mizumoto, “At Last! Puns Nab ILH Title,” HA, 6 March 1979, pp. E1, E2; “State Prep Meet Today,” HA, 8 March 1979, p. D1; Troy Egami, “Chris Teaches Champ ‘Psychos’” and Jim Ashford, “Basketball Wins ILH Title,” KP, 9 March 1979, p. 11; “Punahou 77, Kapaa 29,” HA, 9 March 1979, p. D3; Clyde Mizumoto and Steve Kimura, “Moanalua, Puns in Finals Tonight,” HA, 10 March 1979, pp. D1, D6; Mizumoto, “Punahou Takes State Title,” HA, 11 March 1979, pp. K1, K4; Troy Egami, “Basketball Triumphs After 3 Year Drought,” KP, 16 April 1979, pp. 4–5; Carita Zimmerman, “McLachlin Quits Coaching,” KP, 24 May 1979, p. 2; Barry Obama, “Winner,” Oahuan 1979, p. 104; DJG interviews with Chris McLachlin, Tom Topolinski, Mike Ramos, Larry Tavares, Dan Hale, Alan Lum, and Greg Ramos; Obama in Mendell, Obama, p. 48; Lum in Brian Charlton (AP), “In Honolulu, Young Obama Was Part of a Multiethnic Existence,” 6 February 2007; McLachlin in Tani, “A Kid Called Barry”; Lum and Obama in Todd Purdum, “Raising Obama,” Vanity Fair, March 2008; Obama in Bryant Gumbel, “The Audacity of Hoops,” HBO Sports, 15 April 2008, and Ann Sanner (AP), “Obama Says He Looked to Basketball in His Youth,” 16 April 2008 (“improvisation”); Austin Murphy, “Obama Discusses His Hoops Memories at Punahou High,” SportsIllustrated.com, 21 May 2008; Jaymes Song (AP), “Obama Finds Refuge, Identity in Basketball,” 16 June 2008, McLachlin in Harnden, “Barack Obama’s True Colours,” and in Remnick, The Bridge, p. 92; Allison Schaefers, “Punahou Rejoices in Success of Obama,” HSB, 5 November 2008. Also see David Chircop, “Young Obama Impressed Teacher in Hawaii,” Everett Herald, 18 January 2009.

  35. Obama in Barkley, Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man?, pp. 23, 26; Obama, DFMF, pp. 93–96; Obama on The Friday Night Show, WTTW.com, 3 December 2004; Obama’s 2001 interview with Julieanna Richardson; DJG interviews with Annette Yee, Kent Torrey, Tom Topolinski, Dan Hale, Mark Hebing, and Mike Ramos; McLachlin on Orme in Hans Nichols, “In Hawaii, Media Surfs Obama’s Past,” Politico, 14 March 2007; Orme and Titcomb in Tani, “A Kid Named Barry”; Topolinski interview with Jim Gilmore; “KP’s Illustrated Guide to Punahou Sapiens,” Ka Punahou, 26 January 1979, p. 5; Madelyn in Scott Fornek, “‘I’ve Got a Competitive Nature,’” CST, 3 October 2004, p. 12; Obama in David Remnick, “Going the Distance,” New Yorker, 27 January 2014; Titcomb in Tomimbang, “Barack Obama: Hawaii Roots.” See also Jessica Curry, “Barack Obama: Under the Lights,” Chicago Life, Fall 2004 (“during my teenage years, I engaged in a lot of antisocial behavior”), and Obama, TAOH, p. 30 (“my rejection of authority spilled into self-indulgence and self-destructiveness”). With regard to six-packs, Obama in 2001 would remark, “I might have drunk a six-pack in an hour before going back to class,” but seven years later said, “I would have two, three beers probably a day for certain periods of time” during high school. Obama’s 2001 interview with Julieanna Richardson and 20/20, ABC, 26 September 2008. On Titcomb’s father and family, see Curtis Lum, “Frederick Titcomb, Retired Judge,” HA, 14 March 2000, Lori Tighe, “Colorful Magistrate, Isle Actor Frederick Titcomb Dies,” HSB, 14 March 2000, and a 9 May 2010 obituary item at titcombfamilyhistory.blogspot.com.

  36. Obama, DFMF, p. 270; DJG interviews with Paula Kurashige, Eric Kusunoki, Keith Peterson, and Kim Jones Nelson; Kusunoki in Will Hoover, “Obama’s Declaration Stirs Thrills at Punahou,” HA, 11 February 2007, in Richard Serrano, “Obama Classmates Saw a Smile, But No Racial Turmoil,” LAT, 11 March 2007, in Hans Nichols, “Angry Obama the Pothead Is Not How They Remember Him in Hawaii,” Telegraph (UK), 25 March 2007, on “The Candidates: Barack Obama,” MSNBC, 20 February 2008, in Borland and Anderson, “An American Boyhood,” in Remnick, The Bridge, p. 78, in Sasha Abramsky, Inside Obama’s Brain (Portfolio, 2010), p. 25, and on Martin Kaste, “Hawaii Prep School Gave Obama Window to Success,” NPR, 12 October 2012; Bart Burford, “Barry and Me,” in Jacobs, Obamaland, pp. 58–59; Furushima in Nichols, “Angry Obama”; Titcomb in Tomimbang, “Barack Obama”; Hebing in Serrano, “Obama Classmates”; Ramos and Haworth in Ramos, ed., Our Friend Barry, pp. 11, 78; Kolivas in Heidi Chang, “Hawaii Helped Shape Barack Obama,” VOANews.com, 12 August 2008; Charles Payne on Chicago Tonight, WTTW, 12 February 2007; Dan Nakaso, “Family Precedent,” USA Today, 8 April 2008, p. 7A. Come 2008, Obama would acknowledge, “on the surface, I remained very polite,” but in previous years he repeatedly had insisted that “for much of my high school years” he had taken on a “macho African-American image of a basketball player talking trash” and “had this divided identity—one inside the home, one for the outside world.” No one within the Punahou portion of that “outside world” ever saw any such thing. “Barack Obama Revealed,” CNN, 20 August 2008; Obama on This Week, ABC, 15 August 2004; “Oprah Talks to Barack Obama,” O, The Oprah Magazine, November 2004. See also Obama with Tim Russert on CNBC, 18 November 2006 (a “real macho guise”). As of Barry’s final 1978–79 school year, Richard Haenisch, who was half black, half German, and a future college basketball star, would also arrive at Punahou, but he did not play basketball that year.

  37. Obama, “A Life’s Calling to Public Service,” Punahou Bulletin, Fall 1999, pp. 28–29; Austin Murphy, “Obama Discusses His Hoops Memories at Punahou High,” SportsIllustrated.com, 21 May 2008; Dwight N. Hopkins, “The Hawaiian President: Beyond Black and White,” Christian Century, 10 February 2009, pp. 10–11.

  38. 1979 Oahuan, esp. p. 271; “Dead Man Identified,” HSB, 10 January 1986, p. A2; “Homicide Probe,” HSB, 11 January 1986, p. B4; “Police Seek Help,” HSB, 12 January 1986, p. A5; “Arraignment Set,” HSB, 16 January 1986, p. A14; Jim Borg, “Man, 20, Ordered Held for Trial in Bludgeon Death,” HA, 21 January 1986; “Killing Blamed on ‘Jilted’ Lover,” HSB, 11 December 1986; “Man Convicted of Murder in Bludgeon Slaying,” HA, 19 December 1986; “Man Found Guilty in Ex-Lover’s Death,” HSB, 19 December 1986; “Life Term in Hammer Slaying,” HA, 24 January 1987; “Claw-Hammer Killer Sentenced,” HSB, 24 January 1987; Devere v. Falk, 951 F. 2d 359 (9th Cir.), 20 December 1991 (1991 WL 275356 full text); Richard Alleyne, “Obama’s High School Pot Dealer . . . ,” Daily Mail, 29 January 2014. Killer Andrew Devere served over twenty years in prison for Ray’s murder before being paroled in 2007. When Obama’s yearbook page was first brought to public attention in a blog posting by a 1980 Punahou graduate, Mark Bendix objected and the post disappeared. Eve Maler, “Barry Obama and the Gang,” Pushing String Blog, www.xmlgrrl.com, 16 January 2007. On January 31 Bendix commented: “just keep things on the down low and be cool. The choom gang had a name for people like you. Goober!” Years later Mike Ramos would incorrectly assert that unlike Greg Orme, neither he nor Obama were Choom Gang members. Jackie Calmes, “Visits with School Pals Are a Touchstone on President’s Trips to Hawaii,” NYT, 4 January 2014. Ramos must have momentarily forgotten that the most famous public photo of the Choom Gang includes a smiling Obama plus a glimpse of his own forehead, glasses, and left arm.

  39. Ann Dunham Suturo to Alice Dewey, 2 February 1979 and 13 May 1979, Sutoro to Ph.D. Committee, “Review and Update on Activities Relating to Ph.D.,” September 1984, Dunham Papers; Scott, A Sing
ular Woman, pp. 6, 196, 214; Dunham, Surviving Against the Odds, p. 299; DJG interview with Alice Dewey, Adam Sorensen, “President Obama’s 1979 Prom Photos,” Swampland.time.com, 23 May 2013; Sorensen, “Obama’s Grand Old Party,” Time, 3 June 2013, pp. 12–13; “Double Date from President Obama’s High School Prom Reveals Details,” InsideEdition.com, 23 May 2013; “President Obama’s Prom Date,” InsideEdition.com, 24 September 2013.

  40. Punahou 1979 Commencement film, YouTube; “Dave Donnelly’s Hawaii,” HSB, 4 June 1979, p. B2; “Where They Are Now Class of ’79,” Punahou Bulletin, November 1979, pp. 22–23; Jacobs, Obamaland, p. 51; DJG interviews with Kent Torrey, Greg Ramos, Tom Topolinski, Mike Ramos, Dan Hale, Mark Hebing, Kelli Furushima, and Kraig King; Topolinski interview with Jim Gilmore; Eli Saslow and Philip Rucker, “Obama Looks to Future with a Nod to His Past,” WP, 20 January 2009, p. A1; Obama in Jaymes Song (AP), “Obama Returns to School,” 13 August 2008, Wolffe, Renegade, p. 187, Obama in Maggie Murphy and Lynn Sherr, “The President and Michelle Obama on Work, Family, and Juggling It All,” Parade, 20 June 2014; Neena Cherayil, “Did Obama Really Get Rejected from Swarthmore?,” Swarthmore Daily Gazette, 8 November 2008 (quoting two students to whom Obama each spoke); Obama, DFMF, p. 96–98; Ann Dunham Sutoro to Alice Dewey, 13 May 1979, Dunham Papers. On Kenji Salz’s family, see his father’s obituary, “Andrew J. Salz,” San Francisco Chronicle, 9 October 1995, p. A20. Like Bobby Titcomb’s father, Andrew Salz, a graduate of Yale Law School, also became a Honolulu district court judge.

  CHAPTER THREE: SEARCHING FOR HOME

  1. Occidental College 1979–80 Catalog, esp. pp. 5–6, 28, Occidental College Student Directory 1979–80, Occidental College Student Handbooks (“Lookbook”) 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, Jean Paule to Richard Anderson, “Fall Term 1979,” 18 November 2008, and Jean Paule, “Racial Diversity at Occidental College: A History,” April 2004, Occidental College Archives; Judy Strong, “Student Surplus Jams Dormitories,” The Occidental [TO], 27 September 1979, pp. 1, 10; Bill Hollingsworth, “Gilman Cites Improved Quality as Goal of ’78–’79 Freshman Class Reduction,” TO, 24 February 1978, pp. 1, 7; Alison Bell, “Sophomore Exodus: Why Are They Leaving?,” TO, 12 May 1978, pp. 1, 10; Tom Hammitt, “ASOC Schedules Minority Recruitment Day for March,” TO, 16 February 1979, pp. 1, 7; Tyler Kearn and Aidan Lewis, “Retracing Obama’s Legacy,” Occidental Weekly, 25 November 2008, p. 6; IRS to Stanley Ann Dunham Sutoro, “Notice of Federal Tax Lien Under Internal Revenue Laws,” 12 November 1991 (indicating that in October 1985 assessments totaling over $17,000 had been levied against Ann regarding her 1979 and 1980 taxes), IRS FOIA; Andy Torres, “Torres on Noon Ball,” TO, 15 February 1980, p. 13; “CORE,” TO, 9 May 1980, p. 2; Pete Hisey, “Center Stage,” Occidental Magazine, Fall 2004, pp. 24–29, esp. p. 26 (“full scholarship”); Larry Gordon, “Occidental Recalls ‘Barry’ Obama,” LAT, 29 January 2007 (“full scholarship”); Lynn Sweet, “The Obama We Don’t Know,” CST, 19 July 2008 (supposedly a full scholarship only for his freshman year); Scott Helman, “Small College Awakened Future Senator to Service,” BG, 25 August 2008, p. A1; Jerry Crowe, “Obama Honed His Skills at Occidental,” LAT, 10 November 2008, p. D2; Huell Howser, “Barack Obama’s Occidental College Days,” California Gold, KCET, 13 November 2008; Lyle James Slack, “Obama at Occidental,” Verdugo Monthly, January 2009, pp. 15–16 (originally posted on Arroyo Monthly, 25 November 2008); Colleen Sharkey, “Friends of Barry,” Occidental Magazine, Winter 2009, pp. 12–17; Ben Bergman, “Obama’s Other College Hopes for Presidential Boost,” NPR, 16 January 2009; Larry Gordon, “An Early Influence,” LAT, 18 January 2009, Maraniss, BOTS, pp. 337, 343–44, 346; Obama on 20/20, ABC, 23 December 2011; Obama Q&A with Elizabeth Taylor, CT, 29 October 2006, p. B3; DJG interviews with Kraig King, Paul Carpenter, Andy Roth, Roger Boesche, Kent Goss, Romeo Garcia, Eric Newhall, Tom Topolinski, Phil Boerner, Paul Anderson, Ken Sulzer, John Boyer, Sim Heninger, Adam Sherman, Bill Snider, Tom Moyes, Samuel Yaw “Kofi” Manu, Michael Schwartz, and Paul Herrmannsfeldt; Adam Sherman, “Back to the Annex,” Sherman Papers. Obama himself would assert that “I received a scholarship to Occidental” in his 2001 interview with Julieanna Richardson. As of 1979–80, 52 percent of Oxy undergraduates received some amount of nonloan student aid. Jan Klunder, “Oxy Backs Arts in Coming Crisis,” LAT, 10 February 1980, pp. 1, 6–7. Per Phil Boerner’s retrospective 15 March 1983 diary entry, Obama most definitely had a stereo in his Haines Annex room. On Richard Reath, see Cindy Zedallis, “‘Sophisticated’ Reath Speaks in Thorne,” TO, 27 September 1979, pp. 1, 10. Obama’s textbook from the Boesche and Reath course, Kenneth Prewitt and Sidney Verba, Introduction to American Government, 3rd ed. (Harper & Row, 1979), would be passed down to 1984 Occidental graduate Asad Jumabhoy. On Phil Boerner’s father and family, see Michael Boerner’s WP obituary, 9 May 2012. Boerner and Boyer recall attending what they thought was the premier showing of Apocalypse Now, but that had taken place over a month earlier, on 15 August 1979. See LAT, 12 August 1979.

  2. DJG interviews with John Boyer, Paul Carpenter, Mike Ramos, Roger Boesche, Lawrence Goldyn, Ken Sulzer, Larry Hogue, and Alex McNear; Occidental College 1979–80 Catalog, esp. pp. 5, 28; 1980–1981 Catalog, esp. p. 158; Lawrence Goldyn, “ERA/Draft Fusion Threatens Women’s Progress,” TO, 15 February 1980, pp. 5, 9; ad, TO, 22 February 1980, p. 5; Cindy Zedalis, “Goldyn Notes Hatred Towards Homosexuals,” TO, 29 February 1980, pp. 1, 2, 11; Goldyn, “Goldyn” (letter), TO, 7 March 1980, p. 11; Tracy Baim, “Obama Seeks U.S. Senate Seat,” Windy City Times, 4 February 2004; Kerry Eleveld, “Obama Talks All Things LGBT with The Advocate,” The Advocate, 10 April 2008; Lou Chibbaro Jr., “Nominee’s Gay Mentor Speaks Out,” Washington Blade, 12 September 2008; Brandon Hamilton, “Obama’s Gay Mentor: Lawrence Goldyn ’73,” Reed Magazine, December 2010; Howser, “Obama’s Occidental College Days.”

  3. Rick Cole, “Nader’s Challenge: Are You a Bystander?,” TO, 10 February 1978, pp. 3, 7; Andrew Roth, “Corporate Apartheid: Occidental Commits Itself to an Investment in Racism,” TO, 17 February 1978, pp. 3, 6; Gary Chapman, “Democratic Socialism: Breaking the Chains of Corporate Power,” TO, 17 February 1978, pp. 4–5; Bill Ellis, “Students Call for College Divestment,” TO, 24 February 1978, pp. 1, 7; Bill Hollingsworth, “Divestment Rally to Greet Trustees,” TO, 7 April 1978, p. 1; Martin Burns, “Students Protest Trustee Inaction,” TO, 14 April 1978, p. 1; Bill Ellis, “Student Protestors Rally at Bank of America Stockholders Meeting,” TO, 28 April 1978, pp. 1, 11; “SCC Endorsements” and “SCC Candidate Statements,” TO, 5 May 1978, pp. 2, 5–8; Andy Roth, Doyle Van Fossen, and Gary Chapman, “Mary Jane,” TO, 12 May 1978, p. 2; Bill Hollingsworth, “Faculty Asks Trustees to Divest,” TO, 19 May 1978, pp. 1, 7; 1978 La Encina Yearbook, p. 113; “Trustees Consider South African Investments,” Occidental College Magazine, August 1978, pp. 18–21; Tom Hammitt and Bill Davis, “Affirmative Action Committee Promises Minority Profs,” TO, 9 February 1979, pp. 1, 11; “News ’78–’79: Recapping the Issues and Events,” TO, 15 September 1979, pp. 1, 4; Michael Boerner and Dorothy Boerner to Phil Boerner, 29 and 30 January 1980, as excerpted in 19 May 2009 Phil Boerner memo, Boerner Papers; Cindy Zedalis, “Quad Lights Up at Anti-Draft Rally,” TO, 1 February 1980, pp. 1, 11; Karen Aidem and Nancy Eisenberg, “Anti-Registration Agitators Begin Campaign for Student Education,” TO, 8 February 1980, pp. 1, 7; Cindy Zedalis, “Profs’ Perspectives Offered at Teach-In,” TO, 15 February 1980, pp. 1, 14; Roger Boesche, “New Cold War Mentality Critiqued,” TO, 15 February 1980, pp. 4, 6–7; Cindy Zedalis, “Honor Court and Writing Reviewed by Professors,” TO, 22 February 1980, pp. 1, 11; Susan Keselenko, “Anti-Draft Activism Fades with Finals,” TO, 4 April 1980, p. 3; Student Coalition Against Registration and the Draft letter to the editor, TO, 18 April 1980, pp. 2, 10; Larry Hogue, “Jamming Draft Gears by Massive Resistance,” TO, 16 May 1980, p. 3; DJG interviews with Andy Roth, John (Doyle) Van Fossen, Stephanie Fulks Westerman, and Larry Hogue; Brad Weber e-mail to DJG; Katie Hafner, “Gary
Chapman, Internet Ethicist, Dies at 58,” NYT, 17 December 2010; Valerie J. Nelson, “Gary Chapman Dies at 58,” LAT, 24 December 2010. On Oxy DSA, also see Susan Keselenko, “[Dorothy] Healey Condemns U.S. Response to Soviet Action,” TO, 29 February 1980, pp. 1, 11.

  4. Bill Davis and Tom Hammitt, “Minority Enrollment Plummets,” TO, 19 January 1979, pp. 1, 7; Earl Chew et al., letter to the editor, TO, 18 January 1980, p. 2; Sue Paterno, “Just How Much Do YOU Know,” TO, 1 February 1980, p. 4; Bill Mullen, “Oxy Lacrosse: They Bring ’Em Back Alive,” TO, 1 February 1980, p. 9; Susan Keselenko, “Minority Fraternity Proposal Approved,” TO, 7 March 1980, p. 1; Bill Knutson, “Assistant Dean Resigns,” TO, 4 April 1980, pp. 1, 11; Anne Ball, “Rowe Reinstated After Resignation,” TO, 10 October 1980, p. 1; 1980 La Encina Yearbook, esp. pp. 95, 101 (a Haines residents’ group picture not including Obama), 174 (misidentifying Richard Casey as Eric Moore), 186, 190, 211, 216; Jean Paule e-mail to DJG, 27 July 2009; DJG interviews with Eric Moore, Romelle Rowe Ecung, Judith Pinn Carlisle, Hasan Chandoo, Amiekoleh Usafi, Margot Mifflin, and Tom Grauman; Usafi in Sharkey, “Friends of Barry,” p. 14. On Delanney, see Yann Masson, “Presidentielle Americaine: Avec Barack, on Regardait les Matchs de Basket,” Nice Matin, 6 November 2008, Edward Rangsi, “Laurent Delanney,” ISportConnect.com, 6 February 2012, and “All in the Game of Love,” CEO Magazine, January 2015, pp. 44–51. Per Obama, DFMF, p. 99–100, Oxy contemporaries such as Mifflin and Grauman are convinced that Carlisle was the basis for the character “Joyce,” though Judith herself understandably doubts that: “I did not know Barack Obama. As far as I know, I never said a word to him.”

  5. Occidental College 1979–80 Catalog, p. 5; “Dorm Closing,” TO, 15 February 1980, p. 16; DJG interviews with Susan Keselenko Coll, Caroline Boss, Eric Moore, Romeo Garcia, Margot Mifflin, Dina Silva, Alex McNear, and John Boyer; Group Y, “The MX Missile: Bigger Is Not Better,” Political Science 94, 12 May 1980, Group A, “Critique on the MX Missile,” n.d., Caroline Boss et al., “The MX Missile: Superiority Not Worth the Price: A Rebuttal by Group Y,” 16 May 1980, “Critique of Group A by Group Y,” n.d., Susan Keselenko Coll Papers; Dick Anderson, “O Triumphe!” Occidental Magazine, Winter 2009, pp. 10–11; Monica Corcoran, “Barack Obama Went Hawaiian Casual at Occidental College in L.A.,” LAT, 18 January 2009; Sue Paterno, “Pakistan’s Ambassador to Speak,” TO, 2 May 1980, p. 4; Tom Cotrel, “Mirza Speaks on the Middle East” and Bob Mitrovich, “Ambassador Mirza Meets Interviewers,” TO, 9 May 1980, pp. 1, 11; “Dictionary,” TO, 15 September 1979, p. 3 (Cooler); field hockey ad, TO, 5 October 1979, p. 9; Bill Mullen, “Hasan Chandoo and His $163.00 All-Stars,” TO, 26 October 1979, p. 9; “Women Can-Do for Chandoo,” TO, 16 November 1979, p. 8; Lisa Jack, “Recollections of President-Elect Barack Obama,” 17 December 2008, Augsburg.edu; Laura Fitzpatrick, “The Long-Lost Negatives,” Time, 17 December 2008; Mike Boehm, “Photos Show President Barack Obama as Barry the Freshman,” LAT, 27 May 2009, p. D1; Guy Trebay, “When He Was Barry,” NYT, 18 June 2009, p. E4; Erin Carlyle, “Minneapolis Photographer Captures Obama as a Young Man,” CityPages, 24 June 2009. Nine months later, Jack would win first prize in an Oxy photo contest. TO, 6 February 1981, p. 6. Two subsequent photos Tom Grauman would take of Obama, one picturing his left-handed removal of a volume from a shelf in the library’s basement, the other showing him with Hasan at the 8 February 1981 Ujima dinner, both capture the ring on his left index finger as well. See also Paul Herrmannsfeldt, “Profile: Romeo Garcia an Occidental Legend,” TO, 16 May 1980, p. 5.