Sugar Town [Paperback]

Yasushi "Scotch" Kurisu (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

The heartwarming autobiography of Yasushi "Scotch" Kurisu tells the story of the historic sugar cane communities along the Hilo Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii--from the boom years of the early 20th Century through the industry's postwar decline and virtual disappearance in the 1980s. More than 70 archival photographs illustrate these poignant, often humorous, anecdotes and warm vignettes of laborers from around the world--immigrants who worked the canefields and sugar mills and came of age in the plantation camps of the Hilo Coast. Sugar Town is a story told straight from the heart, a story that helps the preserve the spirit of a bygone era.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Kurisu has crafted a keepsake, a spirited chronicle of plantation days and a must-read for newcomers. -- Midweek, July 17, 1996

Kurisu was blessed with a great memory, one that clung to details and could fashion them into word pictures. -- The Honolulu Advertiser, November 23, 1995

About the Author

Yasushi "Scotch" Kurisu (1924-1995) was a lifelong resident of the Hilo Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii. Born of samurai stock, Kurisu put in 45 years' service with three sugar plantations, retiring as a machinist journeyman. He was also an independent sugar grower and a union official actively involved with many community service groups.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Watermark Publishing (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0970578717
• ISBN-13: 978-0970578716
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,972,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sugar Town, January 29, 2001

By 

Theodore W. Jaderstrom (Honolulu, Hawaii) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sugar Town (Hardcover)

This is a great book. It was brought to my attention by the grandmother of one of my fourth grade students. She told me "Take it home over the weekend and relax". How right she was. Reading this book will give you a realistic idea of the life style of Hawaii's sugar plantation camps, particularly on the Hamakua Coast of the island of Hawaii. The author, Yasushi "Scotch" Kurisuwas born, grew up and worked in Hakalau, one of the plantation communities on the Hamakua Coast. He possesses great insight and shares this with many anecdotal accounts of life at this time and place. It is well written and easy reading. I had a difficult time putting it down. I needed to return the book to the owner, so now I am purchasing my own copy. It is one of those books that you can read over many times, and still enjoy and learn from it. If you have an interest in the times of the sugar plantation camps in Hawaii, you should add this to your reading collection.