James Dooley’s Sunny Skies, Shady Characters Triggers Memories and Discussion

NEW RELEASE | AUTHOR EVENTS (see updates below)


DooleyCOVERC.inddSunny Skies, Shady Characters: Cops, Killers, and Corruption in the Aloha State
by James Dooley

A Latitude 20 Book | August 2015 | 248 pages | 20 b&w illlus.
Paper | ISBN 978-0-8248-5164-4 | $18.99
(Also available as an ebook/Kindle)

“Sunny Skies, Shady Characters by James Dooley—Hawaii’s bravest investigative reporter—recounts the secret history of Hawaii that all of us have been waiting for: a book of shocking revelations, featuring a cast of thieves, heavies, enforcers, and yakuza thugs and sneaks who have so intimidated the islands that the truth of their villainy has been suppressed—until now. At last, we know where the bodies are buried, and who buried them.” —Paul Theroux

“The stories recounted here were once front-page news and they lose none of their timeliness in the translation into a book. For those who lived through those times, the book is an opportunity to recall the scandals and scoundrels that infested Hawai‘i, and for those too young to remember, it is a reminder of why a vigilant press is an essential ingredient to an informed public.” —Gerald Kato, associate professor of journalism, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa


Veteran investigative reporter James Dooley revisits highlights of his journalistic career in Sunny Skies, Shady Characters, revealing entertaining backstories on how he chased high-profile scandals of crime and corruption from the 1970s into the 2000s. In the process, he provides an insider’s look at the business of journalism and the craft of investigative reporting. For a glimpse at the people and cases he covers, take a look at the book’s index here.

Although warehouse stock has only just arrived in Hawai‘i, the book has already triggered memories and discussion due to early media attention, especially preview excerpts that appeared in the August issue of HONOLULU Magazine (released in late July). Civil Beat columnist Neal Milner wrote last week, “As Dooley shows, some of the corruption in Hawaii, like [Ronnie] Ching himself, was bloody and sinister, involving the Mob, Yakuza, and pitched battles between rival Teamster Union members. Other scandals like the Bishop Estate and Kukui Plaza affairs, may not have involved violence, but in their own way they were as outrageous, crude and blatant as a Mafia hit.” David Shapiro’s book review in Sunday’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser stated, “his greatest hits were darned impressive, and it’ll likely be enough for Sunny Skies, Shady Characters to join the short list of books considered must-reads for those seeking to understand Hawaii.”

EVENTS (most recent listed at the bottom)
• Author James Dooley will give a Center for Biographical Research brown bag talk on Thursday, September 3, noon to 1:15 p.m., in UHM Henke Hall 325.
• Join us for HONOLULU Magazine‘s downtown pau hana talk and book signing on Wednesday, September 16, from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Hukilau restaurant (1088 Bishop Street). Click here for the e-invite.
• On Saturday, October 3, starting at 12 noon, Dooley will sign at Barnes & Noble, Ala Moana Center, following an appearance at the Perry and Price Saturday Morning Show broadcast live from Jade Dynasty restaurant, also at Ala Moana Center.
• Head over to the windward side of O‘ahu on Saturday, October 10, noon to 1 p.m., for a signing at BookEnds in Kailua (Kailua Shopping Center, 600 Kailua Road).
• On Saturday, November 7, Jim Dooley will be one of a dozen authors signing at the Daughters of Hawai‘i’s annual Book Day at Queen Emma. (Another veteran journalist, Denby Fawcett, will be there to sign her book, Secrets of Diamond Head.)
• Dooley joins two other authors (Kusuma Cooray and Leslie Hayashi) at the UH Manoa Bookstore‘s Preview Night, Thursday, November 19, 5 to 7 p.m.
• UH Press is partnering with University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Hamilton Library in hosting a new lecture series, Laha Mau Book Talks. Jim Dooley will present the second in the series on Thursday, December 9, starting at 4 p.m. in room 301.

For further details, please check back on this post or contact Carol Abe in the UH Press marketing department.

MEDIA (see also the above links)
• Political analyst Dan Boylan gives high praise to the book in his October 7 MidWeek column. See page 10 of the print replica edition.
• On Thursday, October 8, Jim Dooley was on HPR2’s “Town Square” guest-hosted by Neal Milner. The show aired live at 5 p.m. HST and is now archived for later listening.
• Click the highlighted text to listen to the interview by Chris Vandercook on the August 25 “The Conversation” show on HPR2 and the hourlong discussion on the August 23 Carroll Cox radio show.

Korean American Writers Panel on CKS Literary Night

CKS Literary NightAs part of the celebration to mark the 110th anniversary of the first Korean immigration to Hawai‘i, four Hawai‘i-based Korean American writers will read and discuss their work on Thursday, September 26, 7:00 p.m., at the Center for Korean Studies, UH Mānoa. Presenters with UH Press books include novelist Gary Pak (Brothers under a Same Sky; A Ricepaper Airplane; Children of a Fireland) and documentarian Roberta Chang (The Koreans in Hawai‘i: A Pictorial History; When the Korean World in Hawaii Was Young). The other two participants are award-winning author Chris McKinney and poet/fiction writer Brenda Kwon.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, see the CKS announcement, or call the Center at (808) 956-7041.

Related link: Listen to the Hawai‘i Public Radio interview with Gary Pak about his most recent book, Brothers under a Same Sky.

NPR Highlights Jazz Musician Gabe Baltazar Jr.

Baltazar-If It Swings, It's Music

On September 28, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday will broadcast journalist Heidi Chang‘s profile of Gabe Baltazar Jr. as a pioneering Asian American jazz artist. The piece draws from his UH Press book, If It Swings, It’s Music, and features in-person interviews with the legendary saxophonist and coauthor Theo Garneau, along with some of Baltazar’s musical highlights.

Weekend Edition Saturday is a two-hour program hosted by NPR’s Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon. Please check your local NPR-affiliate listings for air times. For those in Hawai‘i, the Weekend Edition show will be on HPR-2, starting at 5 a.m. HST (O‘ahu listeners can tune in to KIPO 89.3).

UPDATE: The story is archived on the NPR site for listening and viewing. Click here.

To hear more from Gabe, Hawai‘i Public Radio‘s The Conversation aired an interview by Chris Vandercook in August last year.

For a sultry treat, listen to Gabe’s performance of Santana’s “Europa” at the Hawai‘i State Art Museum on July 22, 2012. . .when he was 82—fantastic!

Mary Sia’s Chinese Cooking Legacy Lives On

Mary Sia at her YWCA cooking classFond memories of grandmother’s kitchen have been brought to life with the republication of Mary Sia’s Classic Chinese Cookbook earlier this year. Two of Mary Sia’s granddaughters, Laura Ing Baker and Louise Ing, will share bits of family history (some quite remarkable), while teaching a class tomorrow using a selection of popo‘s recipes. The CookSpace Hawaii class quickly sold out weeks ago but you can still listen to this morning’s HPR interview with Louise and Laura to celebrate the legacy of Mary Li Sia—hear a mouth-watering description of noodles with Hoisin sauce (find the recipe on page 164 of the cookbook) and match your memories of growing up in 1960s Honolulu with theirs. For another fun blast from the past, see the photo on this earlier post on the HI SPY tumblr blog.

Here’s a sample recipe from page 58 of Mary Sia’s Classic Chinese Cookbook:

BRAISED PRAWNS
6 prawns
4 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1½ tablespoons sherry
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
1 small onion, sliced
1 bamboo shoot, sliced
¼ cup water

Remove legs but not shell from prawns. Heat pan, add oil, and fry prawns until they turn pink. Add soy sauce, sugar, and sherry. Sauté 2 minutes. Add ginger, onion, and bamboo shoot, and sauté ½ minute. Add water and simmer 1 minute.
Serves 2.

Enjoy!

UH Press around the Web: May/June Round-up

McDermott&AndradeCongratulations to John F. McDermott, M.D. on being honored by the American Psychiatric Association with the Alice Purcell McGavin Award in recognition of his distinguished career in child and adolescent psychiatry. Along with Dr. Naleen Andrade, Dr. McDermott coedited People and Cultures of Hawai‘i: The Evolution of Culture and Ethnicity. Read more about the award here.

Hawaii Public Radio‘s Chris Vandercook, co-host of “The Conversation,” interviewed UH Hilo associate professor Kerri Inglis about her book, Ma‘i Lepera: Disease and Displacement in Nineteenth-Century Hawai‘i. The show originally aired May 28 on HPR2 but listen to the segment about 38 minutes into the archived show.Inglis-MaiLepera

In commemoration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, the Asia Society’s Farisa Khalid reflected on the life and work of painter Yasuo Kuniyoshi. She included insight from professor ShiPu Wang, author of Becoming American? The Art and Identity Crisis of Yasuo Kuniyoshi, on Kuniyoshi’s contributions to American art. Read the Asia Blog post and view a video slideshow of the artist’s paintings.

Puu-O-Hulu-Stuart-Ball-20-570x380

Adding to its Samuel M. Kamakau Award for Hawai‘i’s Book of the Year, Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory was recognized by the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation with a Preservation Media award at its annual Preservation Honor Awards ceremony last Friday. Representatives from UH Press and the Native Hawaiian Center of Excellence (JABSOM) were joined by descendants of David Kupele, who was sent to Kalaupapa in 1915.

With summer almost officially upon us, how ’bout a nice hike up a rocky ridge with a fantastic ocean view? No need to work up a sweat to get a vicarious thrill of hiking with Stuart Ball, author of several UH Press guides. Experience it by reading this Exploration: Hawaii post by Coty Gonzales.

Hawaii Public Radio Interviews Mark Panek, Elliot Cades Award for Literature Winner

UH-Hilo professor Mark Panek was interviewed by Hawaii Public Radio’s Noe Tanigawa about being named this year’s winner of the Elliot Cades Award for Literature given to an “emerging writer.” The Hawaii Literary Arts Council primarily based their selection on his 2011 biography of Percy Kipapa, Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior, which received the 2012 Ka Palapala Po‘okela award for nonfiction. The Cades awards will be officially presented at Mission Memorial Auditorium on Sunday, May 19, at 3:00 p.m., as part of the Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival and the public is invited.

The HPR interview will air tomorrow (Friday, May 17) at 7:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on KHPR 88.1 FM and on KIPO 88.9 FM at 12:30 or 1:30 p.m. (exact timing is subject to change). It will be archived on the HPR website or accessed at www.noetanigawa.com. UPDATE: Click here for the archived show.

Of related interest: Read a past Q&A on Big Happiness here.

In addition to Big Happiness, Dr. Panek also authored Gaijin Yokozuna: A Biography of Chad Rowan (UH Press, 2006) and this month released his first fiction title, Hawai‘i: A Novel, published by Lō‘ihi Press.

Congratulations, Mark!

Conversations with UH Press Authors

Besides the NPR “Crime in the City” interview with Victoria Kneubuhl that aired August 13, other “talk stories” with UH Press authors took place in the past month:

Hawai‘i Public Radio‘s The Conversation interviewed jazz saxophonist Gabe Baltazar about his memoir, If It Swings, It’s Music. Listen to the  “Book ’em, Gabe-o…with a new autobiography” in the HPR archives for August 7.

Gabe was also featured in the “Old Friends” column that appeared in the August 29 edition of MidWeek, mailed to over 270,000 homes in Hawai‘i. Read the online version here.

On August 27, HPR’s The Conversation caught up with Jim Tranquada at Occidental College to talk about The ‘Ukulele: A History. Listen to the “Madeiran melody maker morphs into a jumping flea…” in the archived show.

The editor of MauiTime interviewed author Tom Coffman about his inspiring new book, I Respectfully Dissent: A Biography of Edward H. Nakamura. Read Coffman’s take on Justice Nakamura’s legacy as a labor attorney and Supreme Court justice in the August 23 cover story, “Standing Alone.”

Victoria Kneubuhl Featured on NPR’s Crime in the City

Each summer, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition airs its Crime in the City series featuring mystery writers as they take listeners on insider tours of their home cities. The August 13 installment highlights Honolulu when author/playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl guides NPR correspondent Renée Montagne to the locales described in Murder Casts a Shadow and Murder Leaves Its Mark. The two mysteries bring to life 1930s Hawai‘i, with journalist Mina Beckwith and playwright Ned Manusia as an unlikely pair of sleuths, a colorful cast of characters, and a rich sense of time and place.

Catch the program by tuning to your local NPR Morning Edition broadcast on Monday, August 13. Hawaii Public Radio will air the segment at 6:50 a.m. on FM88.1 KHPR. (Other U.S. locations are scheduled for 6:50 a.m. & 8:50 a.m. EDT and 5:50 a.m. & 7:50 a.m. PDT.) UPDATE: The show is archived on the NPR website.

Read an excerpt from Murder Casts a Shadow here.

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