Mango Lady & Other Stories from Hawaii

Ted Gugelyk

Dec 2012 · First Edition Design Pub.

About this ebook

Mango Lady & Other Stories from Hawaii takes the reader on a journey not unlike a long ride across the face of a giant wave, full of unexpected turns and surprises, weaving together memories, fantasies, and personalities that stretch from long ago Hawaii to modern day Vietnam. Through all of them is the connecting spirit of the Islands, its special mana, its people, its surf, bringing times past into the present in a special, intimate way. There is Mango Lady, who lived in Waikiki since childhood, watching her ancient preoccupations become irrelevant in the new bustle of development. There is The Man to Whom Surf Cam, the tale of a magical Urban who never failed to attract surf. There is A November Surfer, an adventure of a senior surfer at remote Rabbit Island. There is Hard Port, an intriguing pulling together of Hawaii and Russia, when a longtime surfer visits Nakhodka in the Russian Far East, the land of his ancestors. Finally, there is the flamboyant and unsettling Captain Aloha, a tale of two old surfing friends from Hawaii and the horrors of the war in Vietnam, a unique portrait of psychology and culture, of friendship and passing time."

About the author

Ted Gugelyk came to Hawaii in 1957 as a crew member on a TransPacific racing yacht. He has remained in Hawaii ever since. To en¬able him to live in Hawaii and pursue his love of surfing and sailing, he has held various jobs. Over the years he has been a laborer in the construction industry, lifeguard, toy department stock clerk at Sears and Roebuck, busboy, dishwasher, baggage porter at the Matson’s Moana Hotel, and parking valet. At one time he owned a circle island tour business called Folkways Hawaiiana, and offered educational cultural tours of Oahu. He has also served as an Asian history teacher at Punahou School. At the University of Hawaii he has been a sociology instructor, foreign student advisor, dean of students at Maui Community Col¬lege, and director of the pre-law program at UH Manoa. He also served as a senior program officer at the East-West Center. Over the years he has also taught courses in sociology at Oahu Prison (OCCC). He has to his credit over twenty-five academic articles and has co¬authored one book, an oral history of Kalaupapa. He has authored many short stories, a few of which appear here. In 1992, after twen¬ty-six years of service, he retired from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He now writes, travels, owns his own book-publishing com¬pany and continues to surf, “almost on a daily basis,” he says. He also persists in sailing on his co-owned cutter, The Forbearance. Ted lives in the Woodlawn area of Manoa Valley, with his wife Amy. His two daughters and two grandchildren live close by. His grandchildren hopefully will soon become crew on the Forbearance.