Great piles of stone scattered in former West Maui sugar fields sometimes are mistaken for ancient Hawaiian sites, but they have a more mundane history. In the late 1940s, Pioneer Mill Manager John T. “Jack” Moir Jr. embarked upon an effort to open more land for mechanical cultivation by clearing it of rocks. Bulldozers pushed…
Category Archives: And Now
Fiji: A Trip Back in Polynesian Time
I just spent 10 days in Fiji and didn’t go snorkeling once. It was, as vacations go, I bit of a disappointment—it rained, hard, almost the entire time. The trip was saved by the good humor and camaraderie of my traveling companions and by glimpses into Fijian life and culture. I, of course, saw them…
Revisiting the Past Through Maui’s Newspaper
My new mini-gig is taking me back not only to Maui’s past, but to a great time in my own life. I have begun writing the “Looking Back Through The Maui News” column that Gail Ainsworth originated and contributed for years to the Sunday paper. After Gail decided she was ready to stop doing the…
Kihei History: A House Made of Koa
An almost-forgotten chapter of Maui history centers on Kalepolepo, site of the ancient fishpond Ko`ie`ie and the whale sanctuary headquarters on a dune above it. No one knows when the fishpond was built, but it was many centuries ago. According to a December 1921 article in Paradise of the Pacific by Charles Wilcox, “In building…
Merwins’ Maui Garden a Palm Paradise
I recently had the opportunity to visit a forest created by the poet who wrote: “On the last day of the world I would want to plant a tree.” William S. Merwin began planting his forest on Maui nearly 40 years ago on three-plus acres he bought at a bargain because the land was in…
