Letter From The Editor

I remember the first time I stepped into SoHo Mixed Media Bar in Chinatown — it was late 2010, and I had just moved back here after a few years on the Mainland. My best friend Heather wanted to celebrate her birthday with her favorite nighttime activity: dancing. (Which also happened to be my least favorite nighttime activity, but you don’t say no to your best friend on her birthday.)

So she brought everyone to SoHo. It was some time during that night when I realized that nightlife in Hawaii was becoming something different, something better than what I had experienced on my trips home during my years away. It was packed. The crowd was lively. The DJ didn’t suck. Heather and I had many nights there after that, until it closed in 2013 and owner Daniel Gray took over Nextdoor.

That was the same year Gray was diagnosed with cancer.

When I sat down for an interview with Gray recently, what struck me most was his positive outlook — he’s got a good, if dark, sense of humor. (When we ran into scheduling conflicts, he texted me: “busy lady + malignant man = bad combination.”) He’s also intensely grateful for the support that he’s gotten. Right away, the community rallied around him — his colleagues in the local nightlife industry and people who had their own good memories at his clubs.

The next fundraiser to help Gray pay for his medical bills is this Friday at Nextdoor. For more details on the event and to learn more about Gray, see Page 10.