Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero [Hardcover]

Stuart Holmes Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002

Eddie Would Go is the only biography of one of Hawaii’s greatest heroes. A shy and humble man by nature, Eddie Aikau became larger than life in the ocean. As a surfer, he rode the biggest waves in the world; as a lifeguard, he saved hundreds of lives from the North Shore’s treacherous waters; and as a proud Hawaiian, he sacrificed his life to save his fellow sailors aboard the voyaging canoe Hokule'a. But more than a biography of a courageous waterman, Stuart Coleman’s Eddie Would Go also tells the story of modern Hawaii and Eddie’s role in the Hawaiian Renaissance during the 1970’s. The book is based on numerous interviews with his family, friends and many of Hawaii’s leading watermen and scholars. Coleman weaves together their memories in an exciting and informative story. By exploring his legendary life and legacy, this book will show why Eddie has become such an enduring icon in Hawaii and the surfing world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Eddie Aikau was a real Hawaiian hero. In the end, his story is about hope and healing." -- Interview with Nainoa Thompson, Navigator, Polynesian Voyaging Society

"It's amazing the impact Eddie had on the surfing world and Hawaii." -- Interview with Kelly Slater, World Champion Surfer

"We always knew Eddie would go. Now, thanks to Stuart Coleman’s compelling biography, we know why." -- Interview with Jesse Kornbluth, Editorial Dir., America Online

About the Author

The son of a preacher, Stuart Holmes Coleman was baptized in the small waves of Charleston, SC. While in graduate school at American University, he served as the Writer-in-Residence at St. Alban’s School in Washington, DC. In 1993, Coleman moved to Hawaii to pursue his passions for teaching, writing and surfing. He taught at Punahou and Iolani Schools before becoming an educational director at College Connections Hawaii. His articles and poems have appeared in dozens of publications, including The Associated Press, The Washington Post, USA Today, Charleston Magazine, The Atlanta Review, The Hawaii Review and Honolulu Magazine. Eddie Would Go is his first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: MindRaising Press; 1st edition (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097062137X
• ISBN-13: 978-0970621375
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,592 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great athlete, greater man, December 16, 2002

By 

Jesse Kornbluth (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero (Hardcover)

How's this for a myth? A handsome young man grows up on a beautiful island, living close to nature. He finds a slab of spear-like board and discovers he can use it to challenge waves bigger than anyone thought could be tamed. He rides them flawlessly as they thunder and crash around him. Even his daily life is extraordinary: He patrols beaches to save those who venture out too far --- and no one dies, ever, on his watch. Then comes a mythic opportunity to recreate an ancient voyage. Soon after the double-hulled canoe sails, however, it runs into trouble. Our hero volunteers to swim 12 miles across choppy water to get help for his mates. He sets off --- and is never seen again.

But this is no myth. It's the life story of Eddie Aikau, the 32-year-old Hawaiian waterman who died in l978 trying to save his shipmates (who, as it happened, were all rescued a few hours after he started swimming for shore). And what a story! Start with a kid as handsome as Jason Scott Lee, as athletic as Duke Kahanamoku and as soulful as Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. He loves the water so much he drops out of school at 16. At 21, when he's not much known as a surfer, he shows up at Waimea Bay and triumphs over 40-foot waves. Suddenly he is in the Pantheon of big-wave surfers. And stays there until his death.

It was inevitable there would be a book about Eddie. And that it would be called EDDIE WOULD GO --- the phrase other watermen used to describe Aikau's unrelenting willingness to leap into deadly surf to save swimmers in trouble. What was not inevitable? That EDDIE WOULD GO would be written by someone as gifted as Stuart Coleman. A writer, teacher and surfer, he strikes just the right balance between Eddie's life on land and his heroics on the water. He tells a double story well: courage and integrity on the water, a spiritual quest on land, as Aikau pondered what it meant to be a Hawaiian in a rapidly changing world.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating biography from a very gifted writer, December 21, 2002

By 

Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero (Hardcover)

How's this for a myth? A handsome young man grows up on a beautiful island, living close to nature. He finds a slab of spear-like board and discovers he can use it to challenge waves bigger than anyone thought could be tamed. He rides them flawlessly as they thunder and crash around him. Even his daily life is extraordinary: He patrols beaches to save those who venture out too far --- and no one dies, ever, on his watch. Then comes a mythic opportunity to recreate an ancient voyage. Soon after the double-hulled canoe sails, however, it runs into trouble. Our hero volunteers to swim 12 miles across choppy water to get help for his mates. He sets off --- and is never seen again.

But this is no myth. It's the life story of Eddie Aikau, the 32-year-old Hawaiian waterman who died in l978 trying to save his shipmates (who, as it happened, were all rescued a few hours after he started swimming for shore). And what a story! Start with a kid as handsome as Jason Scott Lee, as athletic as Duke Kahanamoku and as soulful as Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. He loves the water so much he drops out of school at 16. At 21, when he's not much known as a surfer, he shows up at Waimea Bay and triumphs over 40-foot waves. Suddenly he is in the Pantheon of big-wave surfers. And stays there until his death.

It was inevitable there would be a book about Eddie. And that it would be called EDDIE WOULD GO --- the phrase other watermen used to describe Aikau's unrelenting willingness to leap into deadly surf to save swimmers in trouble. What was not inevitable? That EDDIE WOULD GO would be written by someone as gifted as Stuart Coleman. A writer, teacher and surfer, he strikes just the right balance between Eddie's life on land and his heroics on the water. He tells a double story well: courage and integrity on the water, a spiritual quest on land, as Aikau pondered what it meant to be a Hawaiian in a rapidly changing world.

Forty foot-high waves. Normally brave surfers standing on shore. And one surfer --- Eddie Aikau --- smiling as he and his board become one with the water. It's an image that will warm you on cold winter nights. And, in summer, make you just a bit more respectful of kids on surfboards, dreaming of glory.

--- Reviewed by Jesse Kornbluth

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book, December 28, 2002

By 

mark cave (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eddie Would Go: The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero (Hardcover)

What can a high-school dropout, hooked on surfing, raised by a poor family in a remote cemetery out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean have to say to me? This is what I was thinking as I started "Eddie Would Go." In fact, for the first 100 pages of Coleman's book I continued to ask myself the same question.

But the more I read about Eddie Aikau and the more I got to know him, the more my respect grew. In a way, Coleman kind of sets you up. He lures you into Eddie's humble life only to help you better understand his greatness -- his purely selfless heroism.

Not only is "Eddie Would Go" one of the better biographies I've read, it flows along with profound undercurrents. Many of them are quickly grasped - poverty, altruism, struggles with cultural inferiority. Others are more subtle and lingering - the complexity of racism and the Buddhist concept of "dukkha."

Unforgettable, important book.