Category: General Interest

Natural Hazards, the Environment, and Hawaii’s Communities

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Living on the ShoresRarely a day goes by in Hawai‘i without the media reporting on environmental issues stemming from public debate. Will the proposed housing development block my access to the beach? Is the rising sea level going to cause flooding where I live? How does overfishing damage the reef? Is the water clean where I surf? Living on the Shores of Hawai‘i , by Charles Fletcher, Robynne Boyd, William J. Neal, and Virginia Tice, discusses the paradox of environmental loss under a management system considered by many to be one of the most stringent in the nation. It reviews a wide range of environmental concerns in Hawai‘i with an eye toward resolution by focusing on “place-based” management, a theme consistent with—and borrowing from—the Hawaiian ahupua‘a system.

A Latitude 20 Book
November 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3433-3 / $27.99 (PAPER)

In Anticipation of Mark Twain’s Autobiography

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Letters from HawaiiNext month (November 15, to be exact), the much-anticipated first volume of The Autobiography of Mark Twain will be available from University of California Press.

What should you do in the meantime?

Read Mark Twain’s Letters from Hawaii! The 30-year-old Twain, who had not yet been outside the U.S., composed twenty-five travel letters for the Sacramento Union during his 4-month stay in the Sandwich Islands. A tireless sightseer, Twain went everywhere and wrote on whatever interested him: scenery and climate, politics, social conditions, Polynesian legends and lore, the monarcy, missionaries, business, and history. Letters and Twain’s Hawai‘i experiences opened the door to a new and lucrative profession for the writer—that of lecturer—and gave him material for a series of popular travel accounts that would culminate in his first important book, The Innocents Abroad.

Mark Twain’s Letters from Hawaii
Edited by A. Grove Day
ISBN 978-0-8248-0288-2 / $17.99 (PAPER)

Honoring Nisei World War II Veterans

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Nisei VetsOn October 5, 2010, President Barack Obama signed legislation to grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the 100th Battalion, the 442nd, and the Military Intelligence Service. The law recognizes more than 6,000 Japanese-Americans born of immigrant parents who served the United States and fought in battles in Europe and Asia during World War II. About two-thirds of them were from Hawai‘i. Read the Honolulu Star-Advertiser article here.

Learn more about Hawai‘i’s famous “Go for Broke” soldiers of the 442nd and 100th with these popular titles from UH Press:

Unlikely LiberatorsUnlikely Liberators: The Men of the 100th and 442nd, by Masayo Umezawa Duus; translated by Peter Duus
“A fascinating and highly readable slice of history which should be told, and told repeatedly. If ever a group of Americans had been driven to the point of despair and rebellion, it was the Americans of Japanese ancestry during World War II. . . . Unlikely Liberators vividly portrays in remarkable realism the officers and men with whom I served. Every American should read Masayo Duus’ book to better understand the true spirit of America which sustains its greatness.” —former U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga

Combat ChaplainCombat Chaplain: The Personal Story of the WWII Chaplain of the Japanese American 100th Battalion, by Israel A.S. Yost; edited by Monica E. Yost and Michael Markrich
In October 1943, twenty-seven-year-old combat infantry chaplain Israel Yost arrived in Italy with the 100th Battalion, a little-known National Guard unit of mostly Japanese Americans from Hawai‘i. Yost was apprehensive when he learned of his assignment to this unusual unit composed of soldiers with whom he felt he had little in common and who were mostly Buddhists. But this would soon change.

Japanese EyesJapanese Eyes… American Heart: Personal Reflections of Hawaii’s World War II Nisei Soldiers, edited by the Hawaii Nikkei History Editorial Board (distributed for the Tendai Educational Fund)
“It isn’t often that you come across a book that is on the one hand extremely easy to read, enjoyable and inspirational, while on the other hand deeply moving, oftentimes disturbing, and very emotional. Japanese Eyes . . . American Heart is all this and more. . . . The American niseis’ tales create a fascinating literary mosaic, one that is highly educational, highly inspirational, and highly recommended.” —Mainichi Daily News

Talking Hawaii’s Story Readings to Air

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Talking Hawaii's StoryPaired readings from Talking Hawaiʻi’s Story: Oral Histories of an Island People, edited by Michi Kodama-Nishimoto, Warren Nishimoto, and Cynthia A. Oshiro, and Bamboo Ridge Press titles will air as a two-part program on September 7 and 14, at 6:30 pm, on “Aloha Shorts,” KIPO 89.3 FM. The readings were taped live at the fifth annual Hawai‘i Book and Music Festival on May 16, 2010.

The Value of Hawai‘i Events in September

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The Value of Hawaii
The Value of Hawai‘i Contributors on Tourism and Historic Preservation Wednesday, September 2, 7:00 am, AM 940
Tune in to Nā ‘Ōiwi ‘Ōlino on KINE 940 AM to listen to Ramsay Remigius Mahealani Taum and Sara Collins. Rebroadcast at 5 pm, and archived online at http://www.naoiwiolino.com.

The Economy, Tourism, and Agriculture in Hawai‘i
Thursday, September 2, 5:30­-7:00 pm
A “Beatup”/Meetup talk-story with Sumner La Croix, Ramsay Remigius Mahealani Taum, and Charles Reppun at the Civil Beat offices—3465 Waialae Avenue, Suite 200 (the Central Pacific Bank Building). Free and open to the public, but RSVP required—please send an email to beatup@civilbeat.com. See the following link for more information: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2010/08/24/3758-next-beatup-sept-2-value-of-hawaii-part-2/

The Value of Hawai‘i in the Women’s Studies Colloquium Series
Friday, September 3, 12:30­-2:00
Featuring Mari Matsuda, Meda Chesney-Lind, Kat Brady, and D. Kapua‘ala Sproat.
UH Mānoa campus, Saunders Hall 624; co-sponsored by Departments of Women’s Studies and English.

For the full event schedule, please visit http://thevalueofhawaii.wordpress.com.

Save Big on the Atlas of Hawaii

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Atlas:Third EditionGet the hardcover/cloth edition of the award-winning Atlas of Hawai‘i: Third Edition for more than 30% off while supplies last! This essential reference, edited by Sonia P. Juvik, James O. Juvik, and Thomas R. Paradise, is now $51.99.

“‘Bigger’ and ‘better’ are probably the most appropriate terms to describe the third edition of this atlas. . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice

“If you’re an information junkie and a lover of well-designed books, the new edition of the Atlas of Hawai‘i will excite you as much as it did me. . . . This is a very well-done piece of work—a beautifully illustrated encyclopedia of Hawai‘i contained in a single volume.” —Honolulu Advertiser

“[A] monumental effort to compile into one beautiful volume information on basically almost anything you ever wanted to know about Hawai`i. . . . It belongs in every collection as the core source of information on Hawai‘i.” —Western Association of Map Libraries Information Bulletin

“The Atlas of Hawai‘i . . . should be on the shelf of anyone who is interested in the state of Hawai‘i or the human and physical ecology of a north Pacific island group.” —Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers

UH Press Authors Featured on PBS-Hawaii’s Long Story Short

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KawakamiLSSEarlier this month, Barbara Kawakami, author of Japanese Immigrant Clothing in Hawaii, 1885–1941, “talked story” with Leslie Wilcox, the host of PBS-Hawaii’s Long Story Short. For audio and a transcript of the interview, go to http://www.pbshawaii.org/ourproductions/longstory_guests/kawakami.htm.

ClarkLSSJohn Clark, whose latest book, Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past, will be published by UH Press in March 2011, will be the featured guest on August 31. A video clip is available at http://www.pbshawaii.org/ourproductions/longstory_guests/clark.htm.

The Adventures of Vela Wins Commonwealth Writers’ Prize

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The Adventures of VelaThe Adventures of Vela, by Albert Wendt and published last fall by UH Press and Huia Publishers, was awarded the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for the Southeast Asia/Pacific region.

At the award ceremony in April, Huia’s Robyn Bargh commented: “We were honored to . . . see Albert’s work recognized in this way. [The award] shows he is one of the worlds leading indigenous writers.” Among this year’s finalists were J. M. Coetzee, Peter Carey, and Thomas Keneally.

For more information, go to http://www.huia.co.nz/?sn=31&pg=557&st=1.

Inaugural Volume in the Race and Ethnicity in Hawai‘i Series

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Haoles in Hawaii Haoles in Hawai‘i, by Judy Rohrer, strives to make sense of haole (white person/whiteness in Hawai‘i) and “the politics of haole” in current debates about race in Hawai‘i. Recognizing it as a form of American whiteness specific to Hawai‘i, the author argues that haole was forged and reforged over two centuries of colonization and needs to be understood in that context.

“Haoles in Hawai‘i is a terrific book. It handles complex and sensitive issues with knowledge, grace, and sophistication, while at the same time making them accessible to the general reader. Judy Rohrer knows this subject from a lifetime of experience and years of scholarly study. Although it is certain to appear on many college and university reading lists, this is a book that everyone should read. It will make Hawai‘i a better place.” —David E. Stannard, professor of American studies, University of Hawai‘i, and author of Honor Killing: How the Infamous “Massie Affair” Transformed Hawai‘i

August 2010 / ISBN 978-0-8248-3405-0 / $14.99 (PAPER)
Race and Ethnicity in Hawai‘i

Hart Wood Authors Presentation at Reed Space HNL

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Hart WoodDon Hibbard and Glenn Mason, coauthors of Hart Wood: Architectural Regionalism in Hawai‘i, will give a presentation and discuss their work on the book on Tuesday, August 3, at 6:30 pm, at the Waikiki Parc Hotel. Books will be available for purchase and signing after the presentation. Free and open to the public, the talk is part of Interisland Terminal’s Reed Space HNL events. Free validated parking is available for Reed Space attendees.

Victoria Kneubuhl Thinking Out Loud

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Victoria KneubuhlVictoria Kneubuhl, author of Murder Casts a Shadow and Hawai‘i Nei: Island Plays, will be a guest on the Japanese Cultural Center’s Thinking Out Loud: Talking Issues, Taking Action (KZOO-AM 1210), Monday, July 26, 6:30-7:30 pm.

Kneubuhl is a winner of the Hawai‘i Literary Arts Council’s Award for Literature. Her plays have been performed in Hawai‘i and elsewhere in the Pacific, the continental U.S., Britain, and Asia. She is currently the writer and co-producer for the television series Biography Hawaii.

New Book Blog Hosts Updates and Discussion

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The Value of Hawaii
The Value of Hawai‘i Blog is born!

Go to http://thevalueofhawaii.wordpress.com/ for the latest information and to join community discussion events on contemporary Hawai‘i issues.

Coeditors Craig Howes and Jon Osorio will be guests on Hawai‘i Public Radio’s (KIPO 89.3 FM) Town Square, hosted by Beth-Ann Kozlovich, Thursday, July 22, 5-6 pm. They will also be “talking story” on the Japanese Cultural Center’s Thinking Out Loud: Talking Issues, Taking Action (KZOO-AM 1210), Monday, August 30, 6:30-7:30 pm.

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