The DeWire Guide to Lighthouses of Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. Pacific Territories - Softcover

Years ago I lived in Hawai'i during a military tour with my navy officer husband. I was surprised how few people knew that the Aloha State has lighthouses! I contacted Aloha Magazine and wrote an article for it on Hawaiian lighthouses. Later, I became a freelance writer for Hawai'i Magazine and kicked off a string of articles for it with "The Aloha Lights." Still later, I discovered the same lack of awareness about lighthouses in Alaska. It's true that Hawai'i and Alaska are better known for other things, but without lighthouses settlement and prosperity wouldn't have happened in these distant states. I hope this book rectifies some of the oversight of lighthouse history in the 49th and 50th states.
I decided to add the U.S. Pacific Territories to this book too, though they are seldom visited and are little known. Say the names Jarvis and Baker, and people think you're talking about race horses or radio station handles! These two islands, and the better-known Howland Island, have fascinating histories tied to lighthouses. The Marianas and American Samoa have lighthouse history too, sometimes with circuitous connections (as in the story of Robert Louis Stevenson, whose family were renowned lighthouse builders). Territories' lighthouses provide fascinating glimpses into our nation's continued westward expansion in the nineteenth and twentieth century. The staff of the National Park Service were so helpful in providing information on these far-flung outposts! I especially enjoyed researching the Amelia Earhart Memorial Lighthouse and hope it gets some TLC soon; it's a neglected little tower that remembers a great achievement and a daring woman!
I had a short sidebar about buoys in the original manuscript for this book, but my editors at Paradise Cay Publications--Matt and Linda Morehouse--were so beguiled by my snippet history of these unsung troubadours of the sea they asked if I had enough material to add a special bonus chapter on buoys. I did, and I truly enjoyed adding that story to the book. Everyone loves lighthouses, but we forget the homely buoys that far outnumber lighthouses and do so much good work for the mariner.
Lighthouses are my passion. One of my goals is to preserve their stories and images in words in order to raise their profile in the larger saga of human achievement. This book is the second in the "DeWire Guide to Lighthouses of..." series. It's aimed at travelers, both armchair and on the road. It contains everything needed to learn about and travel to the lighthouses in Hawai'i, Alaska, and the territories.

Elinor DeWire has been researching, photographing, and writing about lighthouses since 1972. She is the author of seventeen lighthouse books and more than 150 articles on lighthouses and is the recipient of the Ben Franklin Book Award and the Coast Guard Book Award. Former Coast Guard Historian, Dr. Robert Scheina, calls her America s most prolific lighthouse author. She has been honored for her work by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National League of American Pen Women, the U.S. Lighthouse Society, and the American Lighthouse Foundation.