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Award-winning author Jill Engledow brings Maui’s past to life.
It all started with Queen Elizabeth I.
When Jill Engledow was 13 years old, she wrote a report about the British monarch for her 8th-grade history class. That’s when Engledow discovered she had a flair for writing — and a fascination with history. “I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure I got an A on that assignment,” she laughed.
What Engledow does remember, though, was feeling a deep sense of fulfillment as she wrote the last sentence of her report. “There’s a thrill you get when you finish a piece of writing,” she said. “That’s the first time I felt it.”
After that, Engledow, whose formative years were divided between Hilo and Guam, dabbled in writing (she had her first byline in The Honolulu Star-Bulletin at the age of 14), but never considered making a career of it.
But that all changed in 1974, when she spotted an ad for a sustainable lifestyle essay contest in an issue of Mother Earth News magazine. At the time, Engledow lived on a homestead in remote Huelo, where she made and sold crocheted bathing suits, loaves of bread and bags of salad. Needless to say, she knew a thing or two about living sustainably, so she picked up a pen and wrote about her experience. That’s when Engledow’s life as a writer began.
Jill Engledow’s newest book, “Sugarcane Days: Remembering Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company,” is a nostalgic picture book filled with rare vintage photographs that give readers a visual taste of the sugar cane era.
“I realized that I knew how to make something that most people couldn’t make — I could make a story,” she said. “So I started writing again.”
Not long after, she submitted a story about a hydroponic tomato farm to an alternative weekly newspaper, the Maui Sun, and eventually landed a regular reporting gig. “There are so many stories here,” she said. “If you look around, you’ll find them . . . they’re everywhere.”
In 1980, Engledow was hired by The Maui News and assigned to cover the Lahaina and health beats. A year later, while working on a special Women’s History Month assignment, she started digging into Maui’s past. It wasn’t long before Engledow realized she was hooked on local history. “Maui is amazing,” she said. “The history here is mind-boggling.”
In 1998, Engledow combined her penchant for research with her love of local history when she was asked to write The Maui News’ centennial series, a collection of articles showcasing the people and events that grabbed headlines in each decade of the 20th century. For the better part of a year, Engledow spent countless hours at the Maui Historical Society, local museums, cultural centers and libraries, poring over reels of microfilm, collecting photos, researching and writing. “It was a big project,” she said. Clearly, it was worth the effort. Engledow’s award-winning compilation gave a rare glimpse of the news that mattered to Maui County residents over a 100-year period.
After 18 years at The Maui News, Engledow decided to start a new chapter in her life. “I wanted to write books,” she explained. (Engledow was no stranger to the craft: she’d co-authored a book in 1987.) Since then, she’s researched, written and published several books, including “Island Life 101: A Newcomer’s Guide to Hawaii” (originally “Maui 101: Your Guide to Island Life”), “Haleakala: A History of the Maui Mountain,” “Exploring Historic Upcountry,” “The Spirit Lives On: A History of Old Maui High at Hamakuapoko” and “The Island Decides: A Novel.”
She’s also penned short histories of the Rotary Club of Maui, Hospice Maui and Ka Hale A Ke Ola and wrote the signage for the museum at the Old Lahaina Courthouse, several Lahaina Restoration Foundation projects and displays at the Shaefer International Gallery at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.
Earlier this year, Engledow started writing “The Story of Lahaina,” a short history of West Maui. In July, she paid a visit to the Alexander & Baldwin Sugar Museum in Puunene to track down a rare photograph of Kaanapali Beach for the book. There, she met with museum director Roslyn Lightfoot, and as the two women looked through the museum’s extensive photo collection, Lightfoot said something that snagged Engledow’s attention. “Roz said to me: ‘Someone should put these photos in a book,’ “ she said.
And that’s exactly what Engledow decided to do. In the weeks that followed, she became a regular fixture at the museum. “I looked at thousands of photos,” she said. “I ate, slept and breathed this book.” The toughest part? “There were so many great photos,” she said. “It was hard to narrow it down.”
The end result, “Sugarcane Days: Remembering Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company,” is a nostalgic picture book that gives readers a visual taste of the sugar cane era. The pages are filled with stunning vintage black-and-white photos, most of which were collected from the HC&S Breeze, Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co.’s newspaper, which was published from 1948 to 1968. “I love history, I love Maui history and I love newspapers,” Engledow said. “So yes, I really enjoyed working on this book.”
“The Story of Lahaina” and “Sugarcane Days: Remembering Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company” will soon be available at select retail outlets and on Amazon.com. “People have told me, ‘Thank you for doing this . . . before it’s forgotten,’ “ Engledow said. “That’s why I love what I do.”
Book-signing events for “Sugarcane Days: Remembering Maui’s Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company” and “The Story of Lahaina” will take place throughout the month. For more information or to learn more about Engledow and her books, visit www.mauithenandnow.com.
* Sarah Ruppenthal is a Maui-based writer and instructor at the University of Hawaii Maui College.
Do you have an interesting neighbor? Tell us about them at missruppenthal@gmail.com. Neighbors and “The State of Aloha,” written by Ben Lowenthal, alternate Fridays.
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