Reading chapters aloud at the River Stop Writers Salon provided a different perspective on my words and listeners’ reactions to them. Alofas to salon leader Sandra Bernard for the opportunity and to Tonya and Eldon Howe, Jonathan Riedel, and everyone else who showed up to listen and read.
Early encouragement from Jerry Dennis and Richard McCann at Bear River Writers’ Conference gave me the courage to attempt a book-length project. Workshops led by Anne-Marie Oomen at Interlochen Center for the Arts and Ludington Center for the Arts, Dinty W. Moore at Far Field Retreat for Writers, Bob Comenole at the University of Michigan, Elizabeth Stolarek and Phillip Sterling at Three Ponds Farm, and Ray Gonzalez and Joyce Maynard at the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards Masters Workshops helped me hone individual chapters. Andrew Foster, Emily Everett, and Judith Sara Gelt also offered masterful advice on specific chapters. Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry of The Book Doctors gave incisive guidance on the book proposal and cheered me on as I careened down the publication path. I festoon you all with ulas.
I’d like to throw a fiafia for all who read the full manuscript. Assessments and edits by Robert Root, Phillip Sterling, and Brooke Warner were invaluable and kept me moving forward. Beta readers Katherine Girod Myers, Kitty Kole, Susie Moise, Rebecca Howey, Sally Kane, Janet Glaser, Valerie Roberts, Wendy Badgley, Barry and Beverly Read, Pili Legalley, and the late Utu Abe Malae further fine-tuned the work-in-progress. I’m grateful to Abe, too, for promptly and patiently answering all my questions about Samoan customs, idioms, and other details. (Also for helping me pass chemistry all those years ago.) Bert and Mary Tarrant, Richard Whitaker, and Barbara and Isidore AhKuoi, our eleventh-hour connections have been a delight. Oh, the memories, eh? (And thank you, Bert and Mary, for clearing up the mystery of where Peki lived.)
This book never would have come about if Cindi Schroeder McDonald had not saved the letters I wrote from Samoa. All the Frito chili pie and tater tots in the world would not be enough to thank you, Cindi, for that and for more than fifty years of faithful friendship.
To Val and Wendy I present the finest of my fine mats and a truckload of pisupo. Without you, Samoa undoubtedly would have been interesting, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun. I can’t imagine that year—and the years since—without the wisdom and humor you both possess and the gift of your friendships.
Emily, I wish I could buy you your very own island as a show of gratitude and love for that thing you did--and for everything else you do and are.
Namaste and thank you to the Monday morning yoginis and the Wander Women for helping me keep my balance and stay on the path while working on this project. Let’s all join in and dance the sivasiva!
Ray: I could fill another whole book with tributes to you. Your inquisitive spirit and creativity inspire me every day. Your love, encouragement, and genuine interest in my endeavors make every success sweeter and every disappointment more bearable. Plus, though I’ve never seen you in a lavalava, I have no doubt you would rock the look. Thank you, too, for making me the aromatherapy pen that soothed my pre-publication jitters. And for saying, “You really should go to that Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association conference in Seattle. Maybe you’ll win the contest and get a book deal.” Never let me doubt your wisdom.
GLOSSARY
afakasi
-
a Samoan person with some European ancestry
aiga
-
family
aitu
-
ghost
alofa
-
love
fa’afafine
-
literally, “in the manner of a woman.” A person whose birth gender is male but who is raised as a woman, and identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders. Fa’afafine is a recognized gender identity in traditional Samoan society and an integral part of Samoan culture.
fa’a Samoa
-
literally, “the Samoan way.” The traditional way of life in the Samoan culture.
fale
-
house
feleni
-
friend
fiafia
-
literally, “happy.” A Samoan celebration, often a feast with music and dancing.
fofō
-
traditional healer
holomuu
-
(Hawaiian) a fitted, ankle-length dress
lava
-
enough
lavalava
-
a rectangular piece of cloth worn as a wrap- around sarong or loincloth
ma’i palagi
-
diseases brought to Samoa by outsiders and best treated with Western medicine
ma’i Samoa
-
literally “spirit sickness.” Physical and psychological disorders indigenous to the islands and best treated by traditional Samoan healers (fofō).
malae
-
village green
malō
-
good. Used as an informal greeting.
malosi
-
strength
manuia
-
Cheers! Good health!
matai
-
chief; person holding a Samoan title
moetotolo
-
literally, “sleep-crawling.” Rape
mo’o
-
gecko
palagi
-
white-skinned person; foreigner
palolo
-
a polychaete worm (Palola viridis), the reproductive portion of which is considered a delicacy in Samoa.
palusami
-
coconut cream baked in taro leaves
paopao
-
outrigger canoe
pisupo
-
corned beef
puletasi
-
traditional Samoan two-piece dress with a fitted top and an ankle-length, wrap-around skirt
sami
-
sea
sivasiva
-
traditional Samoan dance
tama
-
boy
taupou
-
a ceremonial hostess selected from the young girls of a village, elevated to a high rank, and charged with the formal reception and entertainment of visitors.
teine
-
girl
tofa
-
goodbye
ua sa
-
forbidden
ula
-
necklace or garland. Ulas are worn for festive occasions and given to arriving or departing guests.
uma
-
finished, completed
umu
-
traditional Samoan oven
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