A look back at some of Kailua’s most evocative places. BY DENNIS HOLLIER Some of the images featured in this article will be in a forthcoming book on Kailua, published by the Kailua Historical Society. Special thanks to Barbara Pope Book Design. The view from Alala point towards Lanikai, circa late 1920s or 1930s. PHOTO…
Category: Business
At Work on the Bay
DENNIS HOLLIER, PHOTOGRAPHY BY KARIN KOVALSKY The Nisei It’s still well before dawn, and the crew of the Nisei sit quietly in their skiff, killing time. Bowed by the weight of the tide, 150 feet of fine-gauge net stretches from the stern to shore, its end tended by a crewman on the jetty. Another 150…
Getting Your Hands Dirty
Far back in Oahu’s Makiki Valley, where the stream chuckles through the lush grounds of the Hawaii Nature Center, Ena Sroat kneels and gently hefts a hibiscus sapling into a shallow hole. “This is a kokio [hibiscus],” she says, using her fingers to shovel soil around its roots. “When it blooms, it has brilliant orange…
Preserving Culture
The old Hawaiian lady smiled wistfully as Mr. Young tonged her order of wet li hing mango out of a massive jar. When he put them on the scale, the scarlet slices glistened in the afternoon light. “Every time I come here,” the lady said in a strong pidgin accent, “it’s like I goin’ back…
Making Waves
Story by Dennis Hollier Photos by Charles E. Freeman High up Tantalus Drive, on a ridge overlooking the Honolulu skyline, Don Mussell practices the occult art of radio. As the broadcast engineer for Hawai‘i Public Radio, Mussell installs and maintains all its equipment. Today he’s come up the mountain to check on HPR’s new powerhouse:…
Hybrid Beauty
story by Dennis Hollier photo by Linda Ching “Nasty plant.” That’s what my mother used to call the anthurium. With its long, jutting spadix, the nickname is probably inevitable. And it’s likely that this jaunty, priapic charm — along with brilliant colors, gorgeous, heart-shaped leaves and exceptional vase life — makes the anthurium the king…
Mystery of the Avocado
story by Dennis Hollier photo by Jack Wolford Down at the farmers market at Kapi‘olani Community College, Ken Love and I watch people file through his avocado-tasting booth. Under the canopy, there’s a cornucopia of avocados. Love has lugged in more than 300 pounds of them from the Big Island. The avocado mavens quietly sample…
Bee Beautiful
story by Dennis Hollier photo by Gerlinde Gorla When Anthony and Gwen Maxfieldmoved into their Pupukea home eighteen years ago, there were already bees on the property and it seemed perfectly natural for Anthony to step into the role of beekeeper. Thus began an apiary relationship that culminated last year when the Maxfields and…
Toxic Waste in Paradise
BY DENNIS HOLLIER Photo: iStock Thirty years after it shut down, the old Gasco site in Iwilei is still a vacant lot. For generations, it converted heavy petroleum into synthetic gas and light oils. Now, its storage tanks, thermal cracker unit and pipelines are long gone and, in their place, is a field of…
Hawaii Timeshare Controversy
BY DENNIS HOLLIER Photo: Courtesy of the Grand Waikikian at Hilton Hawaiian Village It seems like a contradiction: The traditional hotel business in Hawaii is shrinking even while the hospitality industry recovers from the recession, more visitors arrive and they pay more per room than last year. The relative decline of stand-alone hotels is…