I was born in England, raised in Texas, Hawaii and Guam, and have found the home of my heart on the island of Maui. I moved to Hawaii in 1959 with my family (Dad was a newspaper man who covered events like volcano eruptions and tsunamis on the Big Island), and my life was transformed. Imagine living in a jungle, swimming along Hilo's reefs, and watching record-breaking lava fountains after a childhood spent in a suburb on the edge of the Texas desert! I formed a lifelong love of Hawaii, its music, culture and people. I moved to Maui in 1968, lived in the country raising goats, chickens and vegetables, then went to work for an alternative weekly newspaper. That led to a job at the Maui News, where I worked for 18 years, covering every aspect of Maui life.  Since 1998, I've been a free-lance writer specializing in Maui and Hawaii history. My books include Exploring Historic Upcountry, The Spirit Lives On: A History of Old Maui High at Hamakuapoko and several collaborations with other writers. The latest is Haleakala: A History of the Maui Mountain, a beautiful collection of stories and pictures of the great Maui volcano. If you love Haleakala, this is the book for you; it's unlike anything ever done before. My Island Life 101: A Newcomer's Guide to Hawaii, published in 2008, expands on the success of my earlier book, Maui 101: Your Guide to Island LIfe. In Island Life 101, I give newcomers (and those who simply love the Islands and their lifestyle) inside info on the history, culture and community life of Hawaii.  If you (or someone you know) are moving to Hawaii, please read this book! In it, I share the accumulated understanding of most of a lifetime dedicated to learning about this beautiful place.  

The Spirit Lives On received the 2008 Preservation Media Award from the Historic Hawaii Foundation.

The Maui News: 100 Years as Maui’s Newspaper--the compiled edition of a yearlong series for The Maui News centennial in 2000--won the Maui Historical Society’s 2000 Preservation Award for Keeping Maui’s History Alive and a Certificate of Commendation from the American Association for State and Local History, 2001.

Other awards for magazine and newspaper writing:
Hawai`i Publishers Association Pa`i Award, International Association of Business Communicators `Ilima Award, American Cancer Society, Hawai`i Heart Association, National Newspaper Association, Mental Health Association in Hawai`i, Hawai`i Psychological Association, Hawai`i Medical Association, Hawai`i State Commission on Persons with Disabilities