The Man Who Found A Life: A Hawaii Story

The unexpected is precious or destructive, as Rick Harwood finds out—twice. Rick, who fought the war in Vietnam and stayed on to create a successful life, is displaced by the fall of Saigon. He loses everything and seeks to recover in idyllic Hawaii, where he expects to collect the pieces of his shattered life. It is not to be. Instead, and unexpectedly, he finds himself a refugee in his own country, confronted by a series of marital and professional challenges. As problems pile up, he wonders what happened to the successful man he was. He fears that he has lost his identity and has no idea of who or what he is now. He is alone and alienated until a heroic act of his attracts the attention of some local surfers, and doors long closed to him crack open. These guys, long-time close friends and unique-to-Hawaii personalities, are intrigued by his courage. They “adopt” him, and a special relationship, sometimes humorous, even riotous, but always humane, develops. These colorful guys, who surf, drink beer, and speak in Hawaiian pidgin, are utterly unlike him or anything he has ever known. They teach him to surf, to see joy in a day of good wavesand to view and experience life as he never imagined possible. He recognizes the wisdom of their unassuming ways, that he has become the person they see him as, that they have opened him to accepting the power of feelings, and that he has learned what it means to live aloha—the quiet ethic that underlies all life in Hawaii. Read more