Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Colony - Book Review

THE COLONY: New York : Scribner, c 2006 John Tayman Leprosy , Hawaii , Molokai , History Hardcover. 1st ed., later printing. vi, 421 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 387-396) and index. Clean, tight and strong binding with clean dust jacket. No highlighting, underlining or marginalia in text. VG/VG

In 1866, twelve men and women and one small child were forced aboard a leaky schooner and cast away to a natural prison on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Two weeks later, a dozen others were exiled, and then forty more, and then a hundred more. Tracked by bounty hunters and torn screaming from their families, the luckless were loaded into shipboard cattle stalls and abandoned in a lawless place where brutality held sway. Many did not have leprosy, and most of those who did were not contagious, yet all were caught in a shared nightmare. The colony had little food, little medicine, and very little hope. Exile continued for more than a century, the longest and deadliest instance of medical segregation in American history. Nearly nine thousand people were banished to the colony, trapped by pounding surf and armed guards and the highest sea cliffs in the world. Twenty-eight live there still.

John Tayman tells the fantastic saga of this horrible and hopeful place — at one time the most famous community in the world — and of the individuals involved. From the very first exile — a gentle part-time lawyer trapped in an unjust ordeal beyond his imagination — to the last remaining residents, the narrative is peopled by presidents and kings, cruel lawmen and pioneering doctors, and brave souls who literally gave their lives to help. A stunning cast includes the martyred Father Damien, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt, John Wayne, and more. The result is a searing tale of survival and bravery, and a testament to the power of faith, compassion, and heroism.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

St. Damien Church of Molokai






The St. Damien Catholic Community held a fundraiser on Saturday, March 13th. In attendance were Bishop Larry Silva, Fr. Javier Álvarez-Ossorio, SS.CC., the order's Superior General, and Fr. Felipe Lazcano Hamilton, SS.CC., one of the order's General Councillars.

Pictured on right are are event organizer Maria Sullivan, Fr. Clyde and chair of the Diocesan Road Map Implementation Commission Colleen Sathre:
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Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Mozlink’ for any or all of the articles/images placed here. The placing of an article does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
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