Halfway to Asia

About the Book

Much of modern Hawaii took shape in the years following World War II. They brought Hawaii’s social revolution and struggle for Statehood, new fighting in the post-colonial Pacific, the Cold War and anti-communist excesses. Yet this was also a pre-jet time of many mellow days and sometimes erotic nights, of these tropical islands before tourism replaced plantations, of aloha and old ways mixing with emerging generations.

This is a novel about the lives and loves of people who forged and fought change in the pivotal 1950s and beyond. The cast includes rich old haole families of the entrenched elite, ambitious newcomers seeking a place in the multiracial tapestry, Hawaiians struggling with change, and Asian-Americans fighting for equality – and sometimes the right to be greedy. While this is not meant to be a roman a clef of disguised real figures, knowing readers may find similarities.

About the Author

John Griffin, a longtime correspondent, editor and columnist in the Asia-Pacific region, jokes he has made a career out of leaving and returning to Hawaii. Born and raised in upstate New York, he flew typhoons in the Pacific and Asia in the Navy Air Corps. Later he attended the University of Hawaii, pursued graduate studies in England, joined the Associated Press, and worked for the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, Asia and Africa. After years as a top editor of the Honolulu Advertiser, Griffin turned to writing columns and fiction. He lives with his wife, writer-editor Susan Yim, in Honolulu and travels frequently in the Pacific and Europe. This is his fourth novel and the first in a series about modern Hawaii.