LATITUDE 20.04°N LONGITUDE 155.71°W

About the Book

Latitude 20.04°N, Longitude 155.71°W is a Hawaiian story told through snapshots and snippets of the lives of fabled and fictionalized family members named Lindsey, Beckley, and others. Through them, I recall bits and pieces of Hawai‘i’s rich and glorious past, everyday folks living ordinary lives doing extraordinary things. I hope you, as the reader, will be able to relate to and find the tie that binds us as God’s children—one planet, one people, one purpose. A wide swath of time is covered in this book of short chapters from the creation of the Hawaiian Islands (eighty million years ago), to the landing of our people at Wai‘ahukini (AD 300), to the arrival of James Cook (1778) and the first New England Missionary Company (1820), to the establishment of sugar and pineapple plantations and cattle empires (1800s), and to the political trade winds that blew across the archipelago; and from chiefdoms to unified kingdom (1819), to provisional government (1893), to republic (1895), to territory (1900), and to statehood (1959). Holly Birch and Mister John are focal characters. Latitude 20.04°N, Longitude 155.71°W is history written in shorthand in a fun, interesting, and dynamic way. I started this journey with that intent. I hope I have achieved my intention. You be the judge. Always with aloha . . . Bob Lindsey.

About the Author

Robert K. Lindsey is a keiki o ka ‘âina, a child of the land, born in Hilo on the biggest Hawaiian island, and raised in Waimea at the foothills of the Kohala mountains. Waimea was a quiet and quaint paniolo (cattle) town when he was growing up there, and Parker Ranch was the foundation of the community. And though the place has changed across time, its beauty still abounds. Lindsey says he “suffers from island fever, and I’m glad I do. Mark Twain described Hawai‘i as ‘the loveliest fleet of islands that lies anchored in any ocean.’ Twain is one reason I’ve never ventured far from home. He convinced me early on that all I need is right here. I’m stuck to this rock called Hawai‘i forever.” In his work life, Lindsey has strived to serve the interests of his lâhui (people) to the best of his abilities, first as a social worker with the Family Court of the Third Circuit, then as a park ranger with the National Park Service at Pu‘ukoholâ Heiau National Historic Site. He also served as the land assets director—Hawai‘i Island with Kamehameha Schools (1994–2004)—and is currently a trustee with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (2005–2013). He is also a Hawaiian Home Lands lessee (1986–2085). Lindsey believes that “as Hawaiian Americans living in a globalized world, for the sake of Mother Earth and our children, the pono (right) thing for us to do is to let bygones be bygones and to forgive but not forget the sins of yesteryears that were committed against us. We must live joyously in the moment and look with hope and optimism to the future . . . It’s said ‘the one constant in life is change.’ One of the lesser fictionalized characters in The 5th of July is Abigail Hathaway McMoore. Her takeaway lesson for us is this: for the sake of our children and the children of the world, we should not be bitter toward change but embrace it, be its advocate, not its victim; its champion, not tormentor; its friend, not adversary. As a contemporary Hawaiian, I subscribe to that philosophy.” The 5th of July is Lindsey’s second book. His first title, Latitude 20.04°N Longitude 155.71°W was published in 2013.