The Life of the People

2012 Transit of Venus

…Hawai‘i Island Best Place to See a Rare Astronomical Event… By Jon Lomberg… June 5, 2012 On June 5, 2012, the Earth, Sun, and the planet Venus will briefly line up, and Venus will slowly move across the Sun’s face, like a tiny eclipse. This is in fact the rarest eclipse visible from Earth, called [...]
Earl Bakken, at 88, Has Many Dreams Come True

…Visionary Philanthropist Wants Kids to Have a Better Future… By Fern Gavelek… He goes to bed every night with pen and paper at his side. “That’s because I dream of ideas while falling asleep,” says Earl Bakken, M.D. HON. C. One of those ideas changed the world in 1957—an external, wearable, battery-powered, transistorized pacemaker. Four [...]
Every Store Has a Story

…The Saito Family and Pa‘auilo Store… By Hadley Catalano… It might just be that a simple bento roll is what has kept the Saito family of Hāmākua in business all these years, and helped their family store to recently reach its 63rd anniversary. You may have heard about those bento rolls at the Pa`auilo Store. [...]
Leo Sears: Curtain Going Up

By Catherine Tarleton… Little did Leo Sears know, back in Kansas, that his first onstage experience in a local high school play, “Curtain Going Up,” would be an appropriate title for his own life drama and career. Even though his leading lady proved uncooperative, it was his first appearance in the limelight. “I was supposed [...]
Marked Teachings: Tattoo as Transformative Art

…By Jessica Kirkwood… The tattoo is not just a form of art, but a sacred dance in symbolic healing. Marked in momentum, the rhythm beats fast from the coiled snake. Journeying, thoughts come forth from the void. Let them go. Fear not the acceptance of others, but seek to know yourself, for alone you will [...]
The Irrepressible Alice Moon

…Downtown Hilo’s Dynamo …By Denise Laitinen… It’s a postcard-perfect morning in downtown Hilo, with bright blue skies and Hilo Bay sparkling in the sunlight—the kind of day that makes you feel lucky to live in Hawai‘i. With the Farmers’ Market in full swing and a cruise ship docked in the harbor, downtown Hilo is bustling [...]
Coping with Cancer

…A Journey and a Place to Chill at Kokolulu …By Cynthia Sweeney… He is a professional counselor who has traveled the world giving workshops in stress reduction using techniques such as acupressure and massage. He also spent 20 years studying qigong with a Chinese monk. She is an oncology nurse and cancer survivor, who also [...]
A Victorian-Age Indiana Jones

…Actor Peter Charlot as Professor Jaggar, Intrepid Scientist/Adventurer …By Alan D. McNarie… The gray-haired figure stands on the side of a green mound next to the empty Volcano house in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. “I’m Professor Jaggar,” he tells the group of visitors, “and we’re here to save people’s lives.” Professor Jaggar is actually Volcano [...]
Waimea Plantation Daughter Remembers Georgia O’Keeffe

…A Conversation with Patricia Jennings …By Catherine Tarleton… “I know you paint flowers and skulls in the desert,” said Patricia Jennings, 12, to her family’s famous dinner guest, “and that you have a wonderful brush technique,” she added, recalling an article she’d read in Time magazine. Artist Georgia O’Keeffe laughed out loud. It was 1939 [...]
Suzi Bond Helps the Stars Shine in Volcano

…The Executive Director of KDEN Likes a Challenge …By Alan D. McNarie… It’s a rainy November evening in Volcano. A small group of aspiring actors have gathered at the Kilauea Military Camp Theater (KMC) to try out for Kilauea Drama and Entertainment Network’s (KDEN) annual winter musical—this year, it’s “The Fantasticks.” Director Suzi Bond knows [...]
The Life in Art


Up from the Ashes
…Pit-firing Ceramic Vessels with Tim Freeman… By John J. Boyle… A close examination of a pit-fired ceramic vessel created by potter and philosopher Tim Freeman reveals details reminiscent of Hawai‘i’s active volcano. The artist, who makes his home near Kīlauea’s burning, living fire, is exploring creation from clay with...
Carousel of Aloha
…Bringing a Dream to Life… By Alan D. McNarie… Juanette Baysa has a dream. It’s not a dream that will lead to an end to all war or a universal source of clean energy or anything that ambitious. It’s just the sort that helps to make life a little nicer. It involves a little park [...]The Life in Music


Community Building with...
…Andy Andrews and Fun with P.U.K.A…. By Shirley Stoffer… Andy Andrews, co-founder of the legendary ‘Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz in California, is now bringing his love of people, music and fun to the Big Island of Hawai’i. Those of us who know him were certain that it would only be a matter of time [...]
Driving Fast with Brittni...
…A Young ‘Ukulele Virtuoso Speeding Toward Stardom …By Shirley Stoffer… The music world keeps opening new doors for Brittni Paiva, the 23-year-old ‘ukulele star from Hilo. She has been making music since the age of four, when she started playing piano. At age 11, her uncle gave her an ‘ukulele and there has been no [...]
Konabob and the Unique Kona...
…By Shirley Stoffer… Bob Stoffer, known as “Konabob” to many people in Hawai’i and around the world, had loved Hawai’i and Hawaiian music for a long time before moving to the island. He listened to Hawaiian music at his bakery in the mountains of Colorado, with a picture of Gabby Pahinui and a map of [...]The Life in Spirit


Kaulana Hawai‘i
Na Wai Puna o Kona – Na Kupuna Kaulana Hawai’i lā Nā mea Aloha lā Eia ho’i ke ola lā ‘O Hawai’i Famous is Hawai’i Loveable things indeed Present is the life Hawai’i Kamehameha Hawai’i lā Mō’i ka moku lā Eia ho’i ke ola lā ‘O Hawai’i Kamehameha of Hawai’i Chief of this island Present [...]
Aia ke Aloha ke Nana Aku
…Love is There When We Seek …Na Kumu Keala Ching… ‘Ohu’ohu o ka lani i ‘ike aku Kūlia a’ela ka lā i ka lewa Wahi ola nā kūpuna i lōkahi ai Aia ana ke aloha ke nānā aku A mist of heaven is seen As the sun strives upon high A place where ancestors gather [...]




