Petroglyph Press
45 years of home-grown
Hawaiiana

by Alan D. McNarie

Among the crowded shelves at Basically Books in downtown Hilo is a little book display of which owners Christina and David Reed are particularly proud. It contains books printed by Petroglyph Press, the Reeds' own publishing house, which is celebrating its 45th year in business this fall. There's A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands by Phil Barnes, which graces the tables of numerous local B&Bs and the shelves of many local school libraries. There's Stars over Hawaii by Edwin Bryan: perhaps the only book to contain star charts in which stars bear both their common and their Hawaiian names. There's Tropical Organic Gardening, Hawaiian Style, the Bible of many local gardeners. Island chefs can peruse Joys of Hawaiian Cooking and How to Use Hawaiian Fruit. The Kahuna, Petroglyphs of Hawai'i and other titles are beloved by students of Hawaiiana.
The Reeds believe that their press is the only one in the state which edits, lays out, prints and binds its books here. About the only thing about a Petroglyph Press book that isn't made in Hawai'i is the paper.
Petroglyph Press doesn't put out a new book very often, but has a few new ones under development. The press specializes in perennial sellers: books that will never make the New York Times top ten list, but will be reordered by local bookstores year after year. How to Use Hawaiian Fruit was first published in 1912 in Honolulu; Petroglyph republished it with new illustrations in 1974, then put out a new edition in 1999. The current catalog includes reprints of Kona Legends, Eliza McGuire's collection of local stories that first appeared in 1926; and two books of classic Hawaiian poetry by Don Blanding, also published in the '20s.
Those last three books and Hilo Legends, retold by David's late mother Frances, are the closest things to fiction that the firm publishes.
"We only do books about Hawai'i," says Christine. "We mostly do nonfiction, so we're not going to publish someone's novel."
But the company does print original works by local authors. Christine is especially proud of Tropical Organic Gardening, Hawaiian Style by Richard Stevens (originally published in 1981 as Organic Gardening in Hawaii). She notes that back then the organic gardening movement in Hawai'i was still in its infancy, and was virtually ignored by the state's College of Tropical Agriculture. Stevens's guide helped provide the knowledge to jump-start the movement here.
Another gem is Stars Over Hawai'i, originally published in 1955.
"This is a book we're really proud of because it really blends the old and the new," says Christine.
The Petroglyph Press version was revised and updated by Dr. Richard A. Crowe, who now heads the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo. This new edition combines modern star charts with ancient Hawaiian navigational knowledge, including star compasses from the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
The firm's best seller is A Concise History of the Hawaiian Islands. Christine recalls that David Barnes, a local teacher, "submitted a little pamphlet to me that he had made himself, that he used in his classes."
But the little book apparently filled a big need.
"It's an easy, quick couple-of-hour read for someone who just wants to learn the basic facts of Hawaii's history," Christine says.
Petroglyph Press was founded in 1965 by David's parents, Stephen and Francs Reed. In its earliest days, it was a small-job press-the sort of operation that does wedding invitations, posters and pamphlets. But Frances, then librarian at the Hilo Public Library, noticed a demand for out-of-print books on Hawai'i. The Reeds resolved to fill that need. Their first book-About Hawai'i's Volcanoes, by Likelike R. McBride, appeared in 1967.
Most of the company's books are fairly short-Stars Over Hawai'i is only 72 pages; Tropical Organic Gardening is 84. The little paperbacks tend to have a hand-made, old-fashioned feel, with large curly first letters on each chapter and line-drawings for illustrations. They're all printed on the company's photo-offset press in Hilo and perfect-bound on the press's Mueller Martini binder. Editing and layout are done by Christine, David and employee Chrissy Bishop. The whole process, from manuscript to finished book, takes place in Hilo.
The press is beginning to enter the digital age. They now have an Epson printer that can do their glossy covers, allowing them to print books on demand. They recently contract-published a book called Violette of Kohala, the reminiscences of former Hawaii Tribune-Herald Kohala columnist Violette Kaiawe. The new press allowed them to print a small run of 400 books, which Kaiawe quickly managed to distribute, then came back for more.
This is one major advantage of digital printing: instead of creating expensive photo plates and gambling on a major print run, the publisher can simply store the computer file and run off a few more books whenever needed. It may be the perfect compliment for a mom-and-pop business such as that of the Reeds, who must juggle their resources between the press and their bookstore and job-printing/copying businesses.
On the Web
basicallybooks.com

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