Here is a link for a wonderful pictorial book on the famous 442nd - the title appropriately? 'Go for Broke'! Hawai'i is a wonderful book, a great jumping-off point for folks to start learning about the history of the place - but remember - it is historical 'fiction'!

He said that he and his wife, a mainland born nisei, wanted to buy a home in Kahala on O'ahu, but found that it was restricted to whites only! In 1961, he blamed his disillusionment on racial restrictions against Asians. While James Michener loved Hawai'i, even he became disillusioned here. It is possible that Abner Hale and John Whipple represent real-life Missionaries Bingham and Thurston at least in part.

Abner Hale in the book is a composite of several early missionaries, as is Jerusha. Assigned to Kailua were the physician Thomas Holman and minister Asa Thurston. They were granted a stay of one year (a stay that was to last indefinitely). The young king, with advice and consent from the regent Kaʻahumanu and Englishman, John Young, haole advisor to Kamehameha I, agreed to allow the missionaries to remain in Hawaii providing that one be assigned to Kailua and the other to Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The first two missionaries to Hawai'i were Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston, a 32 year-old graduate of Yale University and the Andover Seminary. The book is historical 'fiction' - the character of 'Malama' for instance was based on Queen Ka'ahumanu - the regent for King Kamehameha II at the time and favorite wife and widow of King Kamehameha I.

Michener hawaii