Christopher L Cook

I am an author/researcher/speaker on Christian History of Hawai‘i and Tahiti. I am a long-time resident of the island of Kaua‘i in the Hawaiian Islands. I write relevant blog posts at www.obookiah.com.

My publishing imprint Pa‘a Studios is based in the historic town of Waimea, Kaua‘i. Pa‘a Studios released in 2015 my book The Providential Life & Heritage of Henry Obookiah, a book written in the non-fiction narrative genre available on amazon.com. The seed for this book dates back to the summer of 1983. I was then on a pilgrimage of sorts back to my homeland in the Northeast. (I graduated from the University of Hawai‘i, enrolling at age 19, never to return permanently to the East Coast). On this trip I was inspired to write a biography of ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia (Henry Obookiah) the first Native Hawaiian Christian and inspiration for the pioneer American Protestant mission company to be sent to Hawai‘i. Henry died of typhus fever at the Foreign Mission School opened in 1817 in picturesque Cornwall, Connecticut. A visit to his gravesite on a summer day in 1983 led me down a history path I am still pursuing almost 40 years later.

In late March 2020 the first copies arrived from the printer of my latest Christian History of Hawai‘i book - Preparing the Way : How Native Hawaiians Joined with American Protestant Missionaries in New England and Together Brought Christianity and the Bible to Hawai‘i. A major release of Preparing the Way is awaiting the tailing off of the current pandemic plaguing Hawai‘i, though copies are now available. This pictorial 150-page full-color, case bound book commemorates the bicentennial of the pioneer American missionaries sent to Hawai‘i in 1819 from Boston.

In October 2019 I led the Hanahou New England Hawai‘i Bicentennial tour of sites related to the story of ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia. A recent talk I gave for the historic Kawaiaha‘o Church in Honolulu on the life of ‘Ōpūkaha‘ia can be viewed on YouTube.com at the Kawaiaha‘o TV channel.

I am the former editor and reporter at The Garden Island newspaper in Lihu‘e, Kaua‘i. I served as the author/co-author/editor of over fifteen mostly Kaua‘i-focused published books including the Hawai‘i regional bestseller The Kauai Movie Book.

I welcome inquiries about the Christian history of Hawai‘i and of Tahiti at obookiah@gmail.com.