Trained as a nurse, Iowa-born “Tales About Hawai‘i” newspaper columnist Clarice B. Taylor (1896-1963) first came to Hawai‘i in 1917, where she practiced nursing at Lihu‘e Hospital while collecting Hawaiian tales and artifacts as a hobby in her spare time.
In 1933, she was appointed the Honolulu-Star-Bulletin representative on Kaua‘i, a post she held until 1942, when she was reassigned to Honolulu to work at the paper’s copy desk.
Five years later, in 1947, Taylor put her collection of Hawaiian tales to good use by writing about them in her popular Honolulu Star-Bulletin column “Tales About Hawai‘i,” which was published for 14 years, until 1947, and in the process, she became an authority on Hawaiiana, particularly Hawaiian historical personalties.
She once said that “Everything I write is examined with a fine-tooth comb, and if I make a mistake, some of my Hawaiian friends will be on the phone within a few minutes to straighten me out.”
Occasionally she got into trouble with Hawaiians who felt very strongly that she mustn’t “uncover the bones of the dead.”
When Taylor would point out some past wrongdoing or weakness of a beloved hero in her column they would protest, for to those Hawaiians, their ancient forebearers could do no wrong.
One Hawaiian woman forewarned her that she was liable to get sick because of the things she had written, and sure enough, Taylor became seriously ill shortly thereafter.
Whether or not her sickness was brought about because she had violated a kapu is questionable, but in either case, a Hawaiian kahuna, learning of her illness, came to her and told her that if she would hold a pink hibiscus blossom in her hand a certain way and repeat an ancient Hawaiian prayer, she would be cured.
A few days later, Taylor was in recovery.
“I don’t believe in it,” said Taylor, “but nevertheless when I did what the kahuna told me to I began to get well.”
Taylor was also a close associate of author James Michener during his time in Hawai‘i while writing his historically accurate novel “Hawai‘i.”
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Hank Soboleski has been a resident of Kauai since the 1960s. Hank’s love of the island and its history has inspired him, in conjunction with The Garden Island Newspaper, to share the island’s history weekly. The collection of these articles can be found here: https://bit.ly/2IfbxL9 and here https://bit.ly/2STw9gi Hank can be reached at hssgms@gmail.com
