I’m paid to have a way with words. But as the anniversary of a truly terrible day edges closer and closer, syllables and vowels and nouns and verbs aren’t coming easily. It’s a lovely, sunny day in Toronto. I am surrounded by my little green garden, which is spiked with deep pink impatiens, hanging ivy and colourful coleus. I should be sitting in my big, blue, wooden chair with my feet up after finishing a couple of travel writing assignments. But I keep thinking about Hawaii. About Maui. About Lahaina. It was a year ago tomorrow that the world came Read more
Mick Fleetwood
The warning bells are going off in Hawai’i, and around the world. With the achingly beautiful town of Lahaina lying in smouldering ruins, locals and lovers of Maui and Hawai’i (such as me) are sounding the alarm about deep-pocket developers swooping in and grabbing gobs of property, and what that might mean in terms of over-development. Surely the city and Maui county have rules in place that have kept hotel chains from building 10-storey towers on Lahaina’s Front Street. But can government officials insist that new structures reflect the character of the old Lahaina? Can they demand that weathered wood Read more
KA’ANAPALI, MAUI – Celebrity chef Art Smith is holding court on the patio at the popular Hula Grill, just steps from the sparkling blue waters of Kaanapali Beach. He’s sporting a black Hawaiian shirt and a gorgeous lei made of intertwined green leaves and spiky orange flowers and talking about the local food scene on day one of the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival on Maui. “They’ve always grown amazing things here” said Smith, a Florida-born, Chicago-based restaurateur and chef who works closely with Chicagoan and part-time Maui resident Oprah Winfrey. “But now there’s a pride in what’s grown and Read more
