As Hawaiʻi climbs out of the pandemic, two local leaders want to make sure no one forgets what life was like at its height.
Former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell wanted to document that time in Hawaiʻi. He put together a collection of interviews with 25 businesspeople and government officials in the state.
The book is titled "Our Beaches Were Empty, Our Hospitals Full: Leadership Stories from Hawaiʻi's Unique Pandemic Response."
"In the future … we're going to see more pandemics, and therefore this book will be helpful to future leaders," Caldwell said, "because the last chapter is about [how] to do a better job."
He also felt compelled to record the emptiness of the islands. He shared his memories of jogging through Waikīkī during lockdown.
"It was the most eerie feeling to see no one," Caldwell recalled. "No cars, no people, no one on the beach. It was chicken skin. I thought, I'm seeing something I'll probably never ever see in my life."
Jonathan Dworkin of Queen's Health Systems wrote the book "Plague Doctors: How Hawaiʻi Battled the Pandemic," a view of the global health crisis through the eyes of health care professionals.
Dworkin said his book tells a similar story to Caldwell's, but with a greater focus on public health.
"That ground level view is important, because it's health care workers, primarily doctors and nurses, that had to deal with this pandemic, particularly when it was at its scariest at the very beginning," he explained.
Caldwell said Dworkin's book captures "the toll that it had on those on the frontline. They were real heroes working around the clock."
Both "Our Beaches Were Empty, Our Hospitals Full" and "Plague Doctors" are available through Watermark Publishing.
This interview aired on The Conversation on July 27, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
