Set in Honolulu, Hawaii, this memoir by Angela Rickabaugh Shears is an everyday, realistic look at three culturally and otherwise diverse lives far from the glam and glitter of Waikiki and Kalakaua Avenue.
Three Women from Someplace Else reveals the power of friendship, value of diversity, and the search for identity through triumphs and trials. As different as the color of their skin, the food they enjoy, and the faith in their hearts, the three women who became the author’s dear friends educated her more through their relationships than all of her University of Hawaii Manoa classes combined.
While living and learning on Punahou Street—the author, a 40-something from rural Pennsylvania, develops friendships with three incredibly interesting women of different ages and backgrounds. Nanialii’s royal Hawaiian roots are deeply planted in the island’s core; Haneul left South Korea—alone—as a very young woman to seek a better life in America; and Keiko’s GI husband brought her to Honolulu after the war in her homeland Japan was over.
This slice of life includes experiences as an intern for the Senate president; a Voter News Service reporter for the 2000 presidential election; a student who crossed the teacher/professor picket line; president of the student SPJ chapter at UH Manoa; and other unique situations.
Also presented are ancient island traditions, modern-day racism, the hardships of war and terror, the joy of unity, political shenanigans, and fresh, everyday beauty and humor.
Chapter titles include: Politics as Unusual; Settling In Versus Settling For; Pick a Faith, Any Faith; September 11, 2001; A River Burning; and, Almost Local?
Angela Rickabaugh Shears has been writing and editing for 20 years. She is an award-winning writer and has coauthored five other books. She earned her B.A. from the University of Hawaii Manoa, majoring in Journalism/Communication and a minor in Political Science. She and her husband live in Southcentral Pennsylvania where she established a successful writing/editing business.
Three Women from Someplace Else is available on Amazon.com.