The year was 2005. My friend and Creative Director, Bob Liljenwall, encouraged me to start writing a personal newsletter. He felt that I should share the stories of my travels, what inspires me, my clients, insights into the business world, memorable experiences, and my life in Hawaii. – We called it “The EDDY Line.”
I love to write, and also love Hawaii. In 1959, the same same year the territory of Hawaii became our 50th state, I read James Michener’s classic novel, “Hawaii,” and dreamed about seeing the Hawaiian Islands someday. Well, that someday came just three years later.
I enlisted in the US Navy in 1962. I always wanted to be a Naval officer like my father was, but my life was stuck in neutral, and I lacked the discipline to focus on my studies in college, so I made the decision to satisfy my two year military obligation, and enlisted at the US Navy Training Center in San Diego, CA. Well, that turned out to be one of the most intelligent decisions I ever made.
After graduating from a challenging 12 week boot camp, I received my orders to report to the USS Parsons, (DD-949) in San Diego, CA. Once onboard, I learned that our ship, and my home for the next two years, was about to begin a six-month cruise. (‘Cruise’ is a poor choice of words.) to the Western Pacific (West-Pac), and told that our first port of call will be Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and we’ll be in port for four days. I was delighted to hear that news, but also couldn’t help but think about the surprise attack by the Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941.
That horrific and historic event brought my family into the way, and that has had a profound impact on me. Word War II shaped the lives of my father, mother, my uncles, Tom Eddy and Harris Jr. “Speck” Eddy. I didn’t know it then, but my emotional and memorable few days in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Waikiki Beach, and jeep rides around the island of Oahu with three of my shipmates, would become the genesis of the person that I am now, and the inspiration for my writing, my travels, and a life of “Aloha.”
The next three years consisted of time-consuming research, gathering and editing photos, documents of family history, interviewing family members, and recollecting my memories. Towards the end of writing my manuscript, I was very fortunate to be introduced to an accomplished book editor, Ms. Jeanne McCafferty. Jeanne liked my manuscript and I liked her, so I hired her, and together, we completed my book.
“Loves, Life & Laughter,” the highly enjoyable journey of Bill ‘Aloha’ Eddy was self-published three years later in 2013. It is a loosely structured autobiography about an American boy (Bill) and his journey through life, and his journey continues.
He’s still writing ‘The EDDY Line’ about exceptional and thoughtful people, surf culture, retail innovation, architecture, and memorable places. For some reason, people still enjoy reading what I have to say, and that by itself, is rewarding, and puts a big smile on my face.
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