Topolinski, who now lives in Washington state, said he lost touch with Obama after high school and they moved into different political camps. While Obama's prom photographs have never been seen before, details have previously emerged about his high school years. He didnt have to see me, but he was a man of his word, he said. When it rained, Obama and his pals went bowling, instead. Hes kind of in and out. But asked what he believes Obamas biggest accomplishment was, he had a ready answer. Furushima paused, then sighed, pointing out how the potential president was prone to drawing a little Afro atop the B and the O on his signature. Were the minorities here.. He said Obama may have come across as easy going, but he was no pushover. Made a strong case for them.. Hawaii had become a state only two years before Obama's birth, and there were plenty of native Hawaiians still deeply unhappy about it. So far, it has been a narrative spun almost entirely on Obamas terms and in his own words -- most prominently in his bestselling memoir, Dreams From My Father.. As he had at the old school, Obama sat in a back corner. In his day, he was a better basketball player than a golfer. Obama, however, was not a part of that group, according to Anthony and Smith. The first family has attended Titcomb's annual luaus in the past. A youth living in a distant land searches and finds new friends, a new language and a heartbreaking lesson about his identity in the pages of an American magazine. He remembers one day when young Obama, a hopelessly upbeat boy who seemed oblivious to the fact that the older kids didn't want him tagging along, followed a group of Adi's friends to a nearby swamp. A spokeswoman for People said the reporter, West Coast correspondent Maureen Harrington, did not take the list. And from the first day of 5th grade right up until his graduation in 1979, the young man was one of only a small number of black students at a school heavily populated by the children of Hawaii's wealthy, most of them white and Asian. In an interview with the Tribune on Saturday, Kakugawa said he always considered himself mixed race, like so many of his friends in Hawaii, and was not an angry young black man. For much of their childhoods, Orme and Obama were more like brothers than buddies, constant companions both on and off the basketball court who even double-dated on senior prom night. Genevieve Cook, an elementary school teacher, and Obama met at a Christmas party in the East Village in 1983. "Those were robust years full of energy and cacophony, and she loved all of it," Soetoro-Ng said of her grandmother, who has lived alone since her husband died in 1992. After their relationship, she went on to marry a Serbian Boxer named Bob Bozic who once tried to rob $60,000 from a bank. Tucked away in someone elses shoe box of adolescent artifacts, there might be a picture of you in garish clothes and with an outdated do, your arm around a high school squeeze. Obama wasn't shy about advocating for himself and his fellow backup players, Lum said. We played a lot of playground ball.. He then wrote down his number, encouraging Allman to give him a call, and signed off 'Barry Obama'. "Luckily he could swim. . For the president to be able to be with a group where he can be absolutely relaxed a group that knows him from his youth on, and who he knows are friends with him not because of what he became, but because of who he is is a really comforting and warm thing, said David Axelrod, Mr. Obamas longtime strategist. Barack Obama, #23, during his senior year at Punahou School, Honolulu. His spelling wasnt too good either, he said, referring to the note Obama wrote in his high school year book. But generally, said the presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin, It does seem like these presidents need to find a sanctuary whether its a place or a group of people where they can just be themselves and feel the connection from the present to the past. High school friends who predate adulthood and professional attainments often know each others siblings, parents, even grandparents and know each other in a way that later friends often cannot. As Obama's senior year drew to a close, his mother sent him letters from afar, about life in Indonesia and her work there with non-profit groups doing economic development. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man," Obama wrote in "Dreams." remembered Ati Kisjanto, 45. As he listened, McLachlin never dreamed that one day this determined young man, who had spent most of that season warming the bench while the Punahou High School varsity basketball team was marching on to win the Hawaii state championship, would grow up to be Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States. Oblivious to all of this was a perpetually smiling toddler the entire family called Barry. But the foursome rarely goes more than a few months without reconvening in one arrangement or another. Topolinski said neither he nor Obama were stars on their high school team. Others almost certainly illustrate how carefully the young man guarded the secret of his loneliness from even those who knew him best. Among U.S. presidents, Obama is not alone in carving out time regularly to reconnect with his roots. Of course, Obama embraced the image of the athlete, dribbling a ball to school and between classes. You gotta give him that.. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. Ramadi fell to IS in May, marking a major setback for Iraq and the U.S. Magazines, Or create a free account to access more articles, TIME Exclusive: President Obamas 1979 Prom Photos. He also liked to take outside shots and sometimes he got really hot.. On Sunday evening, Titcomb hosted a barbecue at his beachfront home for the entire contingent from . These previously unpublished photos, obtained exclusively by TIME from Obama's schoolmate Kelli Allman (ne McCormack), show a 17-year-old Barack Obama on the night of his senior prom.. ___ 10:40 a.m. On his senior yearbook page, he left behind these words: We go play hoop.. As it made its way over the mountain pass, he took in views of the lush, green and misty Koolau mountains. It wasnt until 2008, when Obama was making his first run for president, that they saw each other again at a fundraiser. But we never talked race." We could all be hotheads at times, but he was very diplomatic, he said. "Did you know that in Thomas Jefferson's day, and right up through the 1930s, anybody who had the price of tuition could go to Harvard? Daily Mail Reporter, Images show Obama ahead of his prom night in Honolulu in 1979, The Obamas to return to Martha's Vineyard? We are no longer accepting comments on this article. We all come from so many backgrounds, we have to get along., Obamas teammates for the most part are careful not to judge an old friend, even if his memories of racial attitudes at Punahou differ from their own. Obama played basketball at Punahou with Orme, who the alumni magazine says is now a building contractor. But it has revealed the vagaries of memory, as well as the ambivalent emotions stirred among old acquaintances when someone they once knew becomes famous. Their. In a new introduction to the reissued edition of "Dreams," he noted that the dangers of writing an autobiography included "the temptation to color events in ways favorable to the writer [and] selective lapses of memory." In a May 21, 2008 Sports Illustrated interview, Obama spoke of the importance of basketball in his life. Allman said that she thought highly of Obama, who was 'very intelligent and witty'. Thats when we see each other. Hed tell us to move on if we got into it with another player. "I never knew, until reading the book later, how much that night had upset him." Mike Ramos, Bobby Titcomb, and Greg Orme-friends from Obama's high school daze in Hawaii-joined the president for a round on the links at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Saturday morning. The motorcade arrived in Kapolei around 11:30 a.m. ___ But spokesman Bill Burton said Obama "stands by his recollections of these events as related in his book." McLachlin said he told Obama he was volunteering for the American Heart Association and the president urged him to keep in touch. President Obama may have had a tough couple of weeks, but newly-released images will remind him of his more carefree days. Madelyn Dunham, a rising executive at the Bank of Hawaii during Obama's Punahou days, was more reserved but seemed to love having her grandson's friends over to play and hang out. Barry did a good job but I think we needed a change," he said. "You need to find Greg Orme," instructed Obama's old basketball coach, Chris McLachin. The attention on Obamas time at Punahou -- a country club campus with nine tennis courts, an Olympic-size pool and an endowment of $180 million -- represents the next important challenge for a celebrity politician who leapt onto the national stage with a few swift strides. HONOLULU (AP) The Latest on President Barack Obama family vacation in Hawaii (all times local): 10 p.m. President Barack Obama and his family dined with friends Wednesday night to cap off another day of their Hawaii getaway. She said a woman from People came to visit with her and then walked away with the Punahou reunion list and all its phone numbers. These have been the stories told about the first two character-shaping decades of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's life, a story line largely shaped by his own best-selling memoir, political speeches and interviews. They were. He added: "I can't say that I've avoided all, or any, of these hazards successfully." I really admire that.. Mr. Obama and the others often would visit family members there at Christmas and on occasion the men would meet, but it was not until 2004 that they agreed to gather annually. They marked the 10th year of their rendezvous by looking through old photos, Mr. Ramos said, of when the kids were young and the dads had dark hair. And of course, he said, they all the president included reflected on the past year. "They held his hands and feet and said, `One, two, three,' and threw him in the swamp," recalled Adi, who still lives in the same house where he grew up. Because of his biracial heritage, he said, he was "like everyone in Hawaii, a mix of a lot of things." He represented them in a very dignified, respectful way. 'We had great vibes between us.'. Rik Smith, a black Punahou student two years older than Obama, remembers a Halloween when white students would dress as slaves, coming to school in tattered clothes with their faces painted black with shoe polish. Or f------ Eskimo." "He never verbalized any of that," Orme said during a telephone interview from his home in Oregon. His middle school yearbook captures the multiracial mood that many Hawaiians say has always defined the Aloha spirit. In front of a chalkboard with Mixed Races of America written in a students hand, Obama waved the peace sign for the camera. You need to find Greg Orme, instructed Obamas old basketball coach, Chris McLachin. The White House says President Obama has been updated on progress made by Iraqi force against the Islamic State group in Ramadi. I dont want to accuse her of stealing it, but it was on the table when she arrived and it wasnt when she left, said Furushima. She also shared a complimentary note that Obama had written in her high school yearbook. ", Every day after practice hed stay to play pickup games against the coaching staff," he said. After years during which the friends grew apart, Mr. Obama reconnected with Mike Ramos, Bobby Titcomb and Greg Orme a decade ago. Bendix said he and Obama learned most of their basketball moves on the playground. "If this story is eight paragraphs, seven of them go to Greg. (At the request of the Tribune, archivists at Ebony searched their catalogue of past articles, none of which matched what Obama recalled.) I wish I would have known that those things were bothering him, or if they did bother him, said Eric Kusunoki, Obamas homeroom teacher from grades nine through 12. He rode a bright blue tricycle with red, white and blue streamers dangling from the handlebars. Now lots of people are interested in helping graduates of Punahou School jog their foggy memories, trolling for revelations about a young man who spent much of his time that season riding the bench. I dont know why people have slammed him like that, said Maurer. The foursome, according to the Associated Press, teed off with another eight players. The real Ray, Keith Kakugawa, is half black and half Japanese. In fact, it is surprising, based on interviews with more than two dozen people who knew Obama during his nearly four years in Indonesia, that it would take a photograph in a magazine to make him conscious of the fact that some people might treat him differently in part because of the color of his skin. She became estranged from her husband, Barack Obama Sr., after his departure for Harvard and rarely saw the group of friends that they had made at the University of Hawaii. He took out (Osama) Bin Laden. Bendix added that he was not shocked when Obama was elected president. Now they mainly just golf more than 30 hours in six outings this vacation and trash-talk, just like in the old days. Ann and the boy lived with the Dunhams in Honolulu until Obama was 6. But absent from those discussions, they say, was another student then known as Barry Obama. The President of the United States is no different. Wearing a white shirt and dark-colored shorts and a baseball hat, President Barack Obama finished 18 holes of golf at the Kapolei Golf Course in Kapolei, Hawaii. I remember when we were seniors in high school, somebody said Barry would be on the Supreme Court, he said. It took about five hours for the president and his playing partners Bobby Titcomb, Greg Orme, and Darrell . Obamas presidential prospects have been fueled in large part by an arresting life story: The son of a Kenyan goatherder, he wrestled with his dual identities to become the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review and a member of the U.S. Senate. You are extremely sweet and foxy, he wrote. Hopefully now that hes done well get to see each other more, he said. Corky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital. The Los Angeles Times weighed in the other day. "It just wasn't a race thing," he reiterated again and again. Obama has claimed on numerous occasions to have become fluent in Indonesian in six months. But Furushima, too, is learning to be on guard around the press. "He was very intelligent and witty. The White House says Obama is playing golf with some of his longtime friends including Mike Ramos, Greg Orme and Bobby Titcomb. "And we were told he had already moved away." For much of their childhoods, Orme and Obama were more like brothers than buddies, constant companions both on and off the basketball court who even double-dated on senior prom night. Chris McLachlin is seen at his house on Jan. 4 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He always made time to see his old coach I didnt play him as much as I should have and he had every right to say 'Ill show you coach.' Obama also made golf outings,. ---------- Kirsten Scharnberg reported from Honolulu and Kim Barker from Jakarta, Indonesia; Tribune staff reporter Ray Gibson contributed to this report. The tenacity and determination Obama showed to make his high school basketball team was an early indicator of the greatness to come. His character, the way he conducts himself, thats always been his footprint. 'But the rest of it has sharp edges, 'Tho he speaks sweet words and can be open and trusting, there is also that coolness - and I begin to have an inkling of some things about him that could get to me.'. The number at Dunhams apartment in a nondescript Honolulu high rise has not changed in more than a quarter-century. He said he does recall long, soulful talks with the young Obama and that his friend confided his longing and loneliness. Obama, the son of a black father and white mother, stood out. It can be very racially hostile, especially if youre white or black. Not as well known is the fact that the many people who raised him were nearly as diverse as the places where he grew up. But it was on the court in the off-season that Obama seemed to be even happier. Those of us who were black did feel isolated--there's no question about that." "I did say we were playing in their world," he explained, "but that had nothing to do with race. Obama admits in "Dreams" that during high school he frequently smoked marijuana, drank alcohol, even used cocaine occasionally. 18:47 GMT 23 May 2013. They're not his wife and daughters, who came with him, but a trio of pals whose friendship dates back to Obama's high school days in Hawaii. And the accounts bear out much of Obama's self-portrait as someone deeply affected by his father's abandonment yet able to thrive in greatly disparate worlds. "He liked drawing Spider-Man and Batman," said another friend, Widiyanto Hendro Cahyono, 46. She also sent advice about his future. 'When you're president, everybody wants something from you and only these types of friends are able to simply want your well-being. But the reality felt far different for the handful of African-Americans attending classes there. Im a Republican, but Ill endorse Barry for anything he wants, said Tom Topolinski, who backed his old buddy twice and voted this time for Trump. In April 2011, Mr. Titcomb was arrested on a charge of soliciting prostitution in a Honolulu sting operation, but the reunions with the president never stopped. "We'd all do things together, but Obama was never there," Smith said, adding that they often brought along the few other black underclassmen. "They were like brothers," says Allman. Though Orme spent most afternoons with Obama and considered him one of his closest friends, he said Obama never brought up issues of race, never talked about feeling out of place at Punahou. He's lived in Colorado, but was listed as a North Carolina resident when in 2012 he attended a state dinner at the White House that Obama held for British Prime Minister David Cameron. But we didnt really become good friends until the seventh grade. We didnt aim high enough., Every time I see him on television its surreal, said Topolinski. Millions of American teenagers will go to proms this year. They agreed to rendezvous in Hawaii every year for the holidays, and their reunions became regular even as Mr. Obama was busy climbing to senator and president, a path none of them imagined nearly four decades ago and 5,000 miles from Washington.