At Barnes & Noble, Kahala Mall, my book signing posters were in their showcase a week before its date.
David, the Events Manager, greeted me with an orchid lei and my favorite café mocha drink.
All five of my books were dramatically displayed on two tables. Dawn of Watermark Publishing was there to assist me.
Within minutes, magic took over. It was a book signing unlike any of my other nine books.
Kapoho: Memoir of a Modern Pompeii is a collection of stories of my childhood in Kapoho which was eventually destroyed by Kilauea Volcano. My history begins on December 7.
The book cover features a photo of an active lava fountain behind the heart of Kapoho: Nakamura Store, their pool hall, theater and the family’s residence. This Nakamura Store made the Life and Look Magazines and national TV during the eruption.
The Nakamura family came to my signing. I haven’t seen some of the members since the eruption in the late 50’s. In the top photo, that’s my brother, Paul, to my left, and Shozo Nakamura and his wife, Harumi, to my right. Shozo and Harumi’s daughter, Sharon, wears the bright blue shirt. It was Shozo’s parents that owned Nakamura Store. In the bottom photo are Shozo’s nephew, Ronald, and his wife. Ronald’s parents’ house was under construction when the lava came to consume Kapoho and his grandparents’ store — you can see it in the photo, that building behind the others, standing on its own.
The Nakamuras stood looking at their home on the cover of my book. There are times when silence and tears express emotions better than words and this was one of those moments.
When I told Shozo that I included in the book a conversation between his now deceased mother and myself that took place on the night he was drafted into the army, he responded with tears.
Copies of Kapoho were purchased for every member of their families by the Nakamura family and others who were there. My sister’s high school classmate was there, someone I had not seen since the eruption. It was a reunion of a tiny part of Kapoho with my book cover as a backdrop.
Someone suggested I organize a Kapoho reunion.
It was Kapoho once again, now under lava, breaking through its black crust to bring us all together.
Next weekend, I’ll be on the Big Island of Hawaii and one of the bookshops notified me that books are flying off the shelf even before any news release.
No one has yet read the book. They may tar and feather me out of the Big Island after they read Kapoho, but I’ll be back in Sacramento by then.
If the presence of the entire Nakamura clan is a sign of what this book means, then What Have I Done? may be a question answered with more nostalgic hugs and tears than a pail of hot tar.
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Everett and I flew into the volcano and over Kapoho in a byplane the first time we visited the Big Island. Houses and cars paralyzed in time! I will never forget it. Your blog adds a new depth to that memory. Your book will be treasured by everyone who has ever been connected to that awesome event.
Frank,
I am so delighted with your report, and with your journey thus far. What with all that love around you, the rest of us hope you will eventually decide to come home & once again grace us with your smile & recollections.
Merry Christmas to you & yours.
Tony
Do you feel it, Miss K? The ground swelling; its slow rise elevated by each passing day and every native heart you touch in Hawai’i. This kind of tectonic shift can only bring good.
May your successes feast upon one another!
[...] Only in Hawaii…KAPOHO at Barnes & Noble Frances' brother, Paul, to her left, and Shozo Nakamura and his wife, Harumi, to her right. Shozo and Harumi’s daughter, Sharon, wears the bright blue shirt. It was Shozo’s parents that owned Nakamura Store. GA_googleAddAttr("AdOpt", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Origin", "other"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_bg", "ffffff"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_border", "5ba1e0"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_text", "4e4e4e"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_link", "0071bb"); GA_googleAddAttr("theme_url", "44a1fb"); GA_googleAddAttr("LangId", "1"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "books"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "travel"); GA_googleAddAttr("Autotag", "family"); GA_googleFillSlot("wpcom_sharethrough"); Share this:TwitterFacebookEmailStumbleUponLike this:LikeBe the first to like this post. [...]