The Canoe Maker's Son
The Canoe Maker's Son takes you on a glorious adventure from the tropics of Hawai'i to the open sea, to rugged coasts and dark forests, and to the Indians of the Pacific Northwest. A story of shanghai, survival, and surprising ancestry.
"My great-great-great-grandfather, 'Eleu, was born in 1773," the old man paused, watching his grandson's face light up with excitement. "He grew up to be a canoe maker just like his father before him. Both were in service to Kalani'opu'u, the great chief of Hawai'i Island. Not only were they canoe makers to the king, but 'Eleu went to the Pacific Northwest Coast on a great tall ship."
"What? Papa, I can't believe it."
"It's true, boy. Now, let me tell the story of the canoe maker's son."
About Cecilia Johansen (Hawaii Author)
After the death of her husband Charles Kanewa in Los Angeles in 2003, Cecilia met his cousin a year later at a Hawai'i Marines Reunion in Las Vegas. She fell in love with the handsome virile cowboy and after four months, she took a leap of faith and moved to Hawai'i to marry Bernard Johansen and live in the lush up-country of Waimea on Hawai'i Island. They were only married for five years before his untimely death. Stories from the lives of the two cousins growing up in Kapa'ahu, Puna District, and extensive research have led to her first novel The Canoe Maker's Son.
Cecilia is a new writer and has published stories and poetry in North Hawai'i News, Freida Magazine, and contributed her husbands' stories to Hali'a Aloha no Kalapana (Fond Memories of Kalapana), a project sponsored by the Hawai'i Council for Humanities and the Teresa Lee Waipa Trust. Working on her next novel, she continues to live in Waimea, enjoying the rainy coolness of the pastures and her dog Maka Polu.