Dawn Fraser Kawahara during her years leading and instructing travelers to Hawai`i and island nations of the Pacific Rim, developed a pleasant, chatty way of imparting good and tho...view moreDawn Fraser Kawahara during her years leading and instructing travelers to Hawai`i and island nations of the Pacific Rim, developed a pleasant, chatty way of imparting good and thoughtful information, definitely not “canned” tourist talks. These proved successful, and she continued that style while writing for and to her “Dear Readers” during her six years of bi-weekly “Green Flash” columns for The Garden Island, the newspaper of the island of Kaua`i. Any reader of her newly-collected “Green Flash” Calabash of columns is bound to be enriched by the author’s “talkstory” charm and subtle teaching style, her unique viewpoints.
Kawahara’s informal essays were planned to be “think pieces” of people, places and events related to “her” beloved island of Kaua`i. Just so, they echo the love of travel and discovery set forth by such as Isabella Bird and Mark Twain in their sojourns in “The Sandwich Islands,” and a hint of reaching for a Utopian idyll a la Huxley’s landmark novel, Island. A love of green and growing things and nature such as expressed by May Sarton sounds an echo in these writings, as well as a whiff of Don Blanding’s romantic poems. The sometimes subtly humorous package is grounded and tidied up by the author’s practiced journalism and feature writing, with attention paid to the “Who, What, When, Where & How” rule to level interesting, unexpected leaps into memory and imagination.
As all Kawahara’s readers find, a great deal of heart and vivid description comes through, as in the author’s compelling life stories: Jackals’ Wedding, A Memoir of a Childhood in British India; its sequel, Burma Banyan, A Daughter’s Odyssey; and her volume of modern chants and cultural information, “Behold Kaua`i ~ Modern Days, Ancient Ways,” all under the AuthorHouse/TropicBird Press imprint;
Kawahara enjoyed her past assignment as Poet-in-the-Schools (Kaua`i). She currently hosts and guides the monthly meetings of the Kaua`i Live Poets’ Society, a follow-up to the Garden Island Arts’ Council “Poetry Fests” she created and curated. The author has focused her supportive interests within the Kaua`i community since the early 1980s. She has contributed as a long-term board director of the Hawaiian culture organization Ka `Imi Na`auao o Hawai`i Nei Institute and now serves as president. She was honored as an “Outstanding Older American–2019” by the Mayor and Council of the County of Kaua`i and the Governor and State Legislature of Hawai`i.
She and her husband, a retired biology teacher, are blessed with six grown children and five grandchildren. They share a passion for books and travel. Kawahara’s books are available through Amazon and other outlets. You may write to her via the contact page of her “booklovers’ website,” dawnkawahara.com, or email tropicbirdpress@gmail.comview less