Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, Allan H. “Papio” Ezell (1915-70) was a Territorial legislator from Maui during 1948-50, and again from Kauai in 1958-59, who while on the campaign trail was known for amusing his constituents by speaking Tahitian, Samoan, Hawaiian and English with a Texas accent.
Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, Allan H. “Papio” Ezell (1915-70) was a Territorial legislator from Maui during 1948-50, and again from Kauai in 1958-59, who while on the campaign trail was known for amusing his constituents by speaking Tahitian, Samoan, Hawaiian and English with a Texas accent.
Prior to arriving in Hawaii in 1940, Ezell had resided for several years in the Marquesas, Samoa and in Tahiti, where he learned the languages and became the sales agent for American expatriate painter Edgar William Leeteg, and where he survived for 74 days adrift at sea aboard the English yacht Satanella, when its motor failed underway from Nuku Hiva in the Marquesas.
He and his wife, Kauai teacher, dancer and actress Leocadia Lui Kwan Ezell, and their daughter, Michele, made their home at “Papio’s Pasture” on the banks of the Huleia River in Niumalu — a place that actress Rita Hayworth found most intriguing during filming of “Miss Sadie Thompson” in 1953.
No wonder, for the Ezell house was gaily decorated with shell carvings, incorporated a bed that Queen Emma had slept in during the late 1800s at her home at Lawai Kai, and featured a stairway leading up to the “crow’s nest,” a little resting place for those wishing a bedroom closer to the heavens.
Ezell was also the author of “Home Port for a Dreamer,” published in 1951, which is comprised of verses that reflect upon his wanderings through the South Pacific, and while employed by Hawaiian Airlines, he later hosted a popular weekly radio program also named “Home Port for a Dreamer,” heard throughout the Hawaiian Islands, in which he read his poems and played recordings of Polynesian music.
In 1970, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Kauai Bureau Chief Keith Haugen wrote about Ezell: “To those who knew him well, Al remained the man with the big heart, always a sucker for a sad story, ready to forgive, never too busy to help, seldom with a harsh word for anyone, always understanding and thoughtful. Kauai was more beautiful because of the 20 or so years he spent here.”
My mom also worked for Hawaiian Airlines in the 50’s and became good friends with Al and his wife. We always stayed at their little hotel right next to Prince Kuhio Park and it was wonderful! Effusive and generous, he was larger than life and someone I’ll never forget!