The Life of the People

A Beloved Daughter Retires

…By Fern Gavelek… She walks through the treasure-filled rooms—fingering the china, straightening a photo frame, smoothing a quilted bedspread and then opening wide an upstairs window. As the fresh air fills the stately bedroom, Aunty Fanny turns around and grins. If only rooms could talk. Fanny Au Hoy has been telling the stories of these [...]
Professing Change

…By Jessica Kirkwood… As humanity faces ecological degradation, increasing social and economic inequality and a growing sense of fear, dissatisfaction and unrest, UH-Hilo Professor Dr. Catherine Becker wants her students to imagine and create a Hawai‘I that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and spiritually uplifting. She is purely their facilitator, their guide. As an eccentric, [...]
Pages from Cowboy Romance and Reality

…By Catherine Tarleton… When I was a little girl, I caught horse fever early and as fervently as a suburban D.C. kid could. I read every horse book in two libraries, drew pictures, wrote stories and fought my brother for control of the knob on our little black-and-white TV to watch the cowboys ride Trigger, [...]
The Parrots of Pana‘ewa

…By Alan D. McNarie… It’s noon on a Wednesday at the Pana‘ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo, and Jan Comstock and Zoe are having some quality time at a picnic table. Let’s play “find the nut,” says Jan. “Mac nut,” says Zoe, emphatically. Only it sounds more like “Nyak nut.” Sort of a cross between “mac [...]
Navigating the Universe from Mauna Kea

Navigating the Universe from Mauna Kea: Science and Sensitivity …By Marya Mann, Photos by Tom Kerr… On the astronomical clock, our sun isn’t very old. Estimated by scientists to be 4.5 billion years young, the mighty sun helped spawn the early Earth. Out of light, action and inter-planetary collisions – or collaborations — the natural [...]
Kaliko Beamer-Trapp

Kaliko Beamer-Trapp: A British Transplant and his Love Affair with ‘Olelo Hawai‘i …By Alan D. McNarie… Kaliko Beamer-Trapp sits with two students in a tiny conference room at the offices of Kahuawaiola, the teacher training and certification program for Hawaiian language immersion schools, in a redwood “temporary building” on the University of Hawai‘i Hilo Campus. [...]
Young Entrepreneurs Grow Organik

Young Entrepreneurs Grow Organik …From Coffee Bags to Recycled Plastic, it all goes into Clothing and Accessories… By Hadley Catalano … It was a rainy day in late spring and Ed Fernandez had to pick up coffee bags. Not for harvesting purposes but for his popular organic and sustainable clothing and accessories company, Organik. Traversing [...]
Chefs of the Future Benefit…

Chefs of the Future Benefit from “Christmas at the Fairmont” — Dining with the Chefs: 22 Years of Delicious! …By Devany Vickery-Davidson… It’s the Big Island’s largest Christmas party and it’s all for a good-tasting, good cause. Each Christmas since 1989, The American Culinary Federation (ACF) of Kona Kohala Chefs have worked to raise funds [...]
Canine Professionals

Canine Professionals– Hawai‘I Island Dogs Perform and Go Where Man Cannot …By Denise Laitinen… They may look like any other dogs, but Kaimi can tell if a fire was intentionally set. Nalu can tell if you have drugs in your car. If you’re lost, Magnum will find you, and if you’re trapped in rubble from [...]
Na Maka O Ka ‘Aina

Nā Maka O Ka ‘Āina— Couple Seeks to Broadcast Hawaii’s Reality …By Marya Mann… To carry on traditions, some people sharpen their tongues or sharpen their pens. Others sharpen their spears. Joan Lander and Puhipau of Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina — “The Eyes of the Land” — sharpen their focus, creating no ordinary picture [...]
The Life in Art


A Master Chinese Brush Painter
…Shirley Pu Wills Practices the Art of Imagination and Chi …By Fern Gavelek … It’s both what you see and what you don’t see that create the magic in Chinese brush painting. “The thing about Chinese brush painting is you imagine what’s not there,” says Shirley Pu Wills of Captain Cook. “A painting of koi [...]
Gille Legacy: The Man Who...
…By Cynthia Sweeney… Gille Legacy does not have the distractions that the rest of us do. Unable to use his body since birth, he is not confined to it and lives largely—both figuratively and literally—in his imagination. And the peace of that place comes through him and onto the canvas as a tangible connection between [...]The Life in Music


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 [...]
A Passionate Kanaka Maoli:...
A Passionate Kanaka Maoli*: Keoki Kahumoku (*Native of this land) —Inspiring the Next Generation with ‘Ukulele, Guitar and Life Skills …By Shirley Stoffer… Keoki Kahumoku is a passionate guy. His beautiful musical talent comes naturally, genetically, from a family that’s well-known in Hawaiian music. But it’s almost secondary...
Gary Washburn: Jazzing Up a...
Gary Washburn: Jazzing Up a High School Band —Heʻs Taken Honoka‘aʻs Music Program to the Top …By Catherine Tarleton… It’s a bright, windy afternoon in Honoka’a for the Peace Day Festival, and the Honoka‘a High School Jazz Band is rocking the field with some big, belted-out blues by a diminutive female vocalist. The kids...The Life in Spirit


Ke Ao
… Na Kumu Keala Ching… Ua hāmama ka ‘īpuka o ke ao – The door of heaven is opened Ke ao (i) ‘ike ‘ia o ke ālaula – As seen, the clouds of the morning light Lālau ho’i ke aloha o nēia ola – Love of this life is placed and carried E ola ka [...]
Ku‘u One Hanau e
Ku‘u One Hānau ē — Na Kumu Keala Ching… Eia ku’u one hānau ē – Here is my place of birth E ku’u ‘āina Kaulana ē – A famous place to me Eia ho’i ke aloha pau’ole ē – Present indeed is unconditional love Aloha ku’u one hānau ē – Love for my place of [...]




