Ngugi wa Thiong’o has suffered worse, but a four-star hotel on San Francisco’s Embarcadero Waterfront was an unlikely setting for the latest insult to the acclaimed Kenyan writer and distinguished UC Irvine prof. Ngugi, on a lecture tour for his novel “Wizard of the Crow,” which deals with oppression and social strife in a fictional African nation, was staying at the Hotel Vitale on Nov. 10. Ngugi was on a veranda, clad in a native dashiki and reading a book, when an employee ordered him to leave. The confrontation didn’t end until Ngugi took the employee to the front desk to prove he had a room. Offended by other staffers’ reactions, too, Ngugi checked out. African news services and some blogs decried the “racist incident,” and U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger called it “deplorable.” The hotel has issued a stream of apologies. Co-owner Chip Conley, ironically the 1999 winner of UCLA’s National Humanitarian Hospitality Company award, took out an ad in the African-American newspaper San Francisco Bay View to make a public mea culpa. “Even in South Africa in the days of apartheid I have not encountered this,” said an incredulous Ngugi, while adding that Conley’s “heart seems to be in the right place.” Conley concedes Ngugi was “racially profiled” by the employee, who has been disciplined; Conley agreed to “deeper anti-racism training of staff” and a donation of up to $10,000 to an anti-racism group. In the late ’70s Ngugi was imprisoned for one year by the Kenyan regime and barred from teaching; in 2004 his triumphant return to Kenya after 22 years of exile turned tragic when robbers brutalized him and his wife …
Ngugi (pronounced Goo-gee with hard g’s) appears this week on “Inside OC” …
The Beltway’s odd/power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin headline the OC Biz Council’s annual dinner Jan. 23 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine. Call (949) 794-7225 …
Fitness legend Augie Nieto made the front page of last Thursday’s Wall Street Journal. The story detailed his personal battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s di
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You’re entering OCBJ territory: The Insider notices that OCTA’s idea for a welcoming sign on the I-5 in Buena Park bears a striking resemblance to somebody else’s sign |
sease) and his bankrolling of genetic research into a cure for the illness …
A shot and a goal: Honda Center, home of the Ducks, has opened Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Club, where premium ticket holders can dine and drink before, during and after events. The 178-seat restaurant and bar features Jack Daniel’s labels, 10 beers on tap and a wine list. The menu includes kobe beef burgers.
