KAPA‘A — Janet Carafa’s “in-depth exploration of the magic of silence” and the thunderous noise of Hurricane ‘Iniki brought together an unusual couple. “A child’s interpretation of Hurricane ‘Iniki was that of a lion,” said Mark Jeffers, author of “The
KAPA‘A — Janet Carafa’s “in-depth exploration of the magic of silence” and the thunderous noise of Hurricane ‘Iniki brought together an unusual couple.
“A child’s interpretation of Hurricane ‘Iniki was that of a lion,” said Mark Jeffers, author of “The Eye of the Lion,” Tuesday during a book signing and reading at the Small Town Coffee in Kapa‘a.
“When ‘Iniki was born, she was a tropical storm off the coast of Africa, dying off and being re-born as a hurricane in the Pacific.”
Children’s interpretations of the hurricane inspired Jeffers to do a saga of the storm as viewed from a child’s standpoint — from getting prepared for the storm, riding out the hurricane and recovering following the storm — all local style.
Carafa is a professional mime artist, a Bikram Yoga instructor and owner and creator of the Event Production Co., YourEventSite.com.
Her many hats provide numerous exciting and creative moments in life.
Fortune the Mime lives in the clouds in a place called Silent Land, but was not content to make splashes of colors in silence.
She falls from Silent Land to the noisy world in search of her voice and meets a very loud lion, the pair venturing forth beyond their barriers.
The “Silent Fortune” series starts with Book 1, “The Lion’s Dream,” and indicates there may be more in the offing, Carafa now being the voice of Makanui, a Hawaiian owl who advocates for children’s health.
Just as Makanui came together with Russell the Rooster of The Storybook Theatre, the lion of “Silent Fortune” came across the lion of ‘Iniki, the pair of lions sharing a lot in common while coming from separate worlds.
“I had the material for about 17 or 18 years, but didn’t know a thing about getting published,” Jeffers said.
“Along came Monique Mira who pointed me to Create Space off the Amazon website.”
Similarly, Carafa said “Silent Fortune” has been out for about two months, but she has had her plate filled with things, which prevented her from marketing the book by Outskirts Press.com.
“It’s available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and online at www.silentfortunethebook.com,” Carafa said.
“I don’t really have a place on Kaua‘i where it is sold except maybe The Storybook Theatre.”
Jeffers said following Hurricane ‘Iniki, where he spent the storm in Koke‘e with David Boynton, to whom the book is dedicated, he wanted to know how the storm affected the children of Kaua‘i.
He applied for funds and held a contest, which would allow the children to share their hurricane stories, the winners receiving badly-needed monetary prizes to help their families during a time when most people were without work.
Jeffers said he felt having children write their stories would be therapeutic while at the same time, be potentially beneficial to other children facing a hurricane or similar natural disaster.
Recruiting the help of Stacey Kaopuiki of Maui to illustrate the stories based on the images sent in by the children, “The Eye of the Lion” took shape as “The Story of my First Hurricane.”
“All of the children who participated in this contest are in the book,” Jeffers said.
“They are a lot older now, and some may have their own families.”
Carafa and Jeffers will be doing book signings and readings (Carafa unleashing her voice and accompanied by a harp) today from 4 to 6 p.m. at Kukui Grove Center.
“If we’re really lucky, we may even have a lion, present,” Jeffers said.
“And, if you miss the Kukui Grove signing, we’ll be at the Hanapepe Art Night every Friday night.”
