Stories of Aloha

"So, what is Hawai'i? one might ask. Or a truer question would be: Who is Hawai'i?" muses Richard Chamberlain in his foreword to "Stories of Aloha: Homegrown Treasures of Hawai'i". In more than 130 profiles and recipes compiled over 23 years, author Jocelyn Fujii leads us to the neighborhoods, rich legacies, cultural treasures and small family businesses that have helped build Hawai'i through the years. Chefs, weavers, farmers, artists, homemakers, hula masters, and business people spring to life in rememberance of Aloha Airlines, whose inflight magazine carried these stories until the airlines closed in 2008. Includes recipes by Aloha Airlines employees. Best Hawaii legendary people stories.

You might find your neighbor in this book. Or your childhood hula teacher. Or the farmer who grows your vegetables, the man at your favorite chili counter, the artist who weaved your lauhala mat. Jocelyn Fujii's profiles in "Stories of Aloha" highlight the authentic core of Hawai'i: its people. Modest, resilient, resourceful, sometimes struggling and always extraordinary, the cultural treasures and small family businesses have built our neighborhoods and defined Hawai'i through several generations. They are the face of 21st-century Hawai'i, the aloha behind the glamor. Whether visitor or resident, you'll find their stories heroic, enriching, enlightening and inspiring.

Author Jocelyn Fujii is a native of Kaua'i and the author of 14 books, including "Under the Hula Moon", "Pono,the Dog that Dreams", "In the Lee of Hualalai", "Voices of Guanacaste", and "Paul Mitchell:Who Was He"? Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Discovery, International Herald-Tribune, AAA Hawai'i, Western Interiors & Design, and other major national and international publicatiions.