Interviews

1. Always drawing

2. Larry designing chairs in the camp

3. Larry’s fishing skill

4. Mother’s reaction to Larry's daredevil racing

5. Larry and President Clinton

6. Corvette Hall of Fame

Nakamura,Grace Aiko

Sister of automotive designer Larry Shinoda

Larry and President Clinton

I*: So what’s the story about Lawrence and President Clinton?

Well, you know, Larry was a great favorite at Corvette clubs and big car rallies. And there were big sponsors for these and there still are great car rallies all over the United States. One of biggest is put on by a man by the name of Jager in Pennsylvania. So he had a big car rally and President Clinton came with his ’64 Mustang.

And so he, being President of the United States, he just thought he was automatically entitled to be in the parade of these Mustangs. So he comes to Jager’s big rally in Pennsylvania and says..."I’m Bill Clinton, I’m here for the rally. So what do I do to get in the parade?" "That heap?" says Jager, "No way." "You know, I’m President of the United States." "Not with that heap." And he said, "Well, then could I at least meet Larry Shinoda?" And Jager says, "Well, I’ll ask Larry."

So anyway, my brother is always very gracious to people and he liked Bill Clinton so he did get to shake Larry Shinoda’s hand because he was the designer of that, of his Mustang. But he never did succumb and let him get in the parade.

* “I” indicates an interviewer (John Esaki)

Date: September 9, 2011

Location: California, US

Interviewer: John Esaki

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Grace Aiko (Shinoda) Nakamura was 15 years old when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. On May 16, 1942, her family of seven boarded a train at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and was sent to the Manzanar concentration camp in California.

In Manzanar, Grace’s younger brother Larry designed for his mother and grandmother two chairs made from recycled wooden toilet crates—complete with arm rests and reclining backs. They became a camp “sensation” attracting many admiring spectators. Larry later became a world-renowned designer whose designs for the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray and the Boss 429 Mustang remain highly admired.

In spring of 1944 Grace, Larry and their mother left Manzanar on a bus and moved to Grand Junction, Colorado. The Quakers American Friends Service Japanese American Student Relocation Project awarded Grace a scholarship to the University of Redlands and she became the first Japanese American college student to return to California, graduating with Honors. The day after graduating, she started a teaching career in the Pasadena School District--the first Japanese American hired. She eventually earned two Masters Degrees and continued a career in education and fine arts. She is married to Yosh Nakamura, a college professor of art, and has three children. (September 2012)