Williams isn't necessary to verify that; it's in "Dreams," Page 58: "I had gone for several interviews with Punahou's admissions officer the previous summer." Meaning, in context, previous to his first attendance in Punahou's fifth grade in the fall of '71. And there's no clarification in the book as to whether he returned to Indonesia after those interviews.
From what classmates have said Jr attended classes in Indonesia and didn’t return from one of the breaks the school had. I haven’t found it mentioned what break that might have been, but from the sounds of it, the break occurred during the school term so Jr was there before the break but not after the break.
I'm afraid I'm not the first to say this, but without a link, this statement is meaningless. Do you have a link, or the copy itself, to verify this, and what year are you referring to -- 1970 or 1971?
Sr had graduated from UH in June, 1962 according to the newspaper interviews given the day he left HI, but I do believe he was double dipping while attending UH....If he had been double dipping and receiving money not only from Elizabeth Mooney Kirk as well as from the federal government as a student of the newly formed East West Center it would explain the lack of complaining while living in the most expensive state of Hawaii!
Again, do you have anything to prove this theory?
I don't disagree with the theory that perhaps Sr. was "paid" for his services as surrogate father (which would explain his being able to live in accommodations other than the YMCA or campus housing) but something other than theory is needed to prove it.
The first article which I mentioned in my post is found here and I never found it in a U.S. publication but in a Dubai publication, it details the original meeting of Jr and Frank Marshall Davis:
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20080904/LIFE/733109695
In the following interview printed in “The Guardian” a fellow classmate and Indonesian friend of Jr. mentions Jr being absent but he says it was the fifth grade so it would be 1971.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/26/barackobama-uselections2008
Even David Maraniss in his article in “The Washington Post” mentions that it is difficult to discover the truth behind financing for Obama Sr. who told different stories. That article can be found here about midway down:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082201679_pf.html
In the article it tells of Obama Sr telling a journalist that:
“Obama told Hirozawa that he had enough money to stay in Hawaii only for two semesters unless he applied for a scholarship.”
Following through, I went to the East-West Center website and discovered that although students were accepted as students of the East-West Center starting in September, 1960 there were no actual buildings specifically built and designated as “The East-West Center” until September, 1962 after Obama Sr had left Hawaii and before Ann and Jr had returned to Hawaii. Further research led to a “Time” article at the following link:
http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,897832,00.html
In the article you will find the following about those chosen to be East-West Center students:
“The bait: two-year scholarships, valued at $9,000, including transportation, books, board and room, $50 a month spending money, and a two-month study tour of the mainland.”
Now if you will remember when Obama Sr left Hawaii he mentioned he would be going on a tour of the mainland prior to going on to Harvard.He actually toured for 3 months arriving at Harvard on a “crisp, cool autumn day”. Also I would point out that while Obama Sr originally lived at the Atherton Y.M.C.A. by 1960 he was living in a “small, single story home at 625 11th Ave.” in the St Louis Heights area. The tour and the change of address indicate he had some money and interviews with him did not mention any difficulty with money while in Hawaii. This was not the case when he went to Harvard as is mentioned in the following article: (Sorry it is 7 pages long)
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/09/21/a_fathers_charm_absence/
In the article the following is mentioned on page 5:
“During his time at Harvard, Obama met another woman. Her name was Ruth Nidesand, a teacher and a person of some means. Obama confided in friends that he was attracted to Nidesand in part because, “she was able to pay for some of the social activities that he could not afford,” said Omolo.”
No mention was made of the same problem while Obama Sr was living in Hawaii and Hawaii was the most expensive state at the time considering transportation costs of supplying the essentials that other states take for granted. We also know that in April 1962, Elizabeth Mooney Kirk wrote a letter to Tom Mboya asking that another sponsor be found to fund Obama Sr’s way to graduate school preferable at Harvard. Kirk would be unable to continue sponsoring him as she had two step-children who would be attending college.
That information as quoted:
According to a letter on file in the Mboya papers at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, “most” of Obama Sr.’s early expenses in the United States were covered by an international literacy expert named Elizabeth Mooney Kirk, who had traveled widely in Kenya. Kirk wrote to Mboya in May 1962 to request additional funds to “sponsor Barack Obama for graduate study, preferably at Harvard.” She said she would “like to do more” to assist the young man but had two stepchildren ready for college.
Can be found here:
http://kenyatogether.blogspot.com/2008/04/mboya-send-obama-to-school.html
Now if you will notice the wording as contained in the Mboya papers Kirk funded “most” of Obama Sr’s expenses, which raises the question as to how he could afford to move from the Y.M.C.A. where he lived in 1959 to a home in 1960. It also raises the question as to where he got the funds for a tour of mainland U.S.A. before his arrival at Harvard. One way he could have done so was to continue getting funding from Elizabeth Mooney Kirk AND applying to be one of the first students of the soon to be built East-West Center.