Words and Wine Tuesday in Keauhou

Mike Malaghan, Marie Alonzo Snyder and Jane Lasswell Hoff will be featured during Kona Stories Book Shop’s Words and Wine event at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Keauhou Shopping Center.

Debut novelist Malaghan has turned his passion for history into the sweeping epic,” Picture Bride,” newly released by Legacy Isle Publishing. Malaghan’s gripping 500-page saga follows Haru, a young peasant girl in turn-of-the-century Japan, from the temples of Kyushu to the sugar plantations of Territorial Hawaii. Betrayed by her best friend, she seeks refuge in an arranged marriage to a Buddhist priest in the far-off Hawaiian Islands, only to find herself with a husband who doesn’t want her, living among a white population distrustful of Japanese immigrants.

Portrayed as a woman of silk and steel, Haru soon emerges as a strong-minded community leader, a teacher and an insightful go-between who recognizes the looming threats to her family and friends. Having once pledged to produce sons to fight for the emperor, she dedicates herself to raising American children loyal to the Stars and Stripes. Absorbing and meticulously researched, “Picture Bride” is the story of Hawaii’s Japanese immigrants, who survived — and thrived — against great odds.

Populating his novel with fictionalized versions of actual historical figures, as well as characters of his own invention often inspired by real people, Malaghan drew from newspaper archives, personal interviews and trips to each location featured in this 10-year labor of love. He is currently at work on a sequel, “A Question of Loyalty,” which chronicles the 21 Nisei Medal of Honor recipients.

Alonzo Snyder is the founder and artistic director of Zouk HI, Tangerine Dance Collective, a NY Times acclaimed dancer and choreographer, as well as international scholar, author and educator. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art in Dance at NYU and her doctorate in education from Columbia University.

She resides in Hawaii where she teaches Zouk in Kona, Holualoa, Waimea, Captain Cook , Kealakekua and the Unviersity of Hawaii at Hilo. She also offered the first Zouk HI, Intensive Teacher Training course focused Zouk Fundamentals. She is on staff in Zoukology and has written four articles on different aspects of Zouk. “The Art and Sensuality of Brazilian Zouk” is the first book on Zouk published in the United States.

In the book, Alonzo Snyder provides a historical context and cultural perspective. by discussing the dance genre’s influences and adaptations and then going into technical descriptions of the basic rhythmic and choreographic concepts of the form. Additionally, she articulates the influences of Duncan, Graham, Limon and Hawkins adding her personal and philosophical connection to Zouk.

Lasswell Hoff is a professional forensic anthropologist, a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a lecturer in anthropology. She has worked throughout the United States for tribal groups, police departments, medical examiners’ offices and for the U.S. Army, identifying and recovering human remains. She was born in Hollywood, California, and spent most of her childhood in southern California. She attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and the University of Oregon. She is widowed and lives and works in Hilo. “Bones of Paradise” is her first novel, part of an intended series of Big Island mysteries.

Even in paradise, people do die. And it’s the job of Mimi Charles, Forensic Anthropologist, to analyze the bodies that aren’t found right away – skeletons, mostly. Mimi and her colleagues at the Medical Examiner’s office are a tightly-knit team that relishes solving the mysteries presented by each case. But outside of the office, their lives in the sweet little town of Hilo flow in a gentle island rhythm. None of them is prepared for the disappearance of one of their own, right from the building where they work (or the parking lot outside, anyway). Soon a series of notes begins to arrive, supposedly from the missing person. Even though the FBI shows up to join the local police in the search for clues, Mimi and her friends can’t resist doing a little “digging” of their own.

Following a more formal book presentation from each author there will be a Q&A session. The event concludes at 8 p.m.

Info: Brenda or Joy, 324-0350.