Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka: The Autobiography of a South Sea Trader's Daughter - Softcover

Frisbie, Florence Johnny

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9780692646960: Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka: The Autobiography of a South Sea Trader's Daughter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0692646965 ISBN 13: 9780692646960

Publisher: Dockside Sailing Press, 2016

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Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka (2nd edition) by Florence (Johnny) Frisbie is the first book written by a Polynesian woman. It tells the amazing story of a young girl growing up on a remote island in the Cook Islands group. Written when Johnny was between the ages of 12 and 14, and published in 1948 when she was 15, Johnny likens her travels through South Pacific islands to those of Ulysses in the Odyssey. Through Johnny’s fresh and unspoiled eyes, we read of a Garden-of-Eden existence on a remote atoll, where the land and the sea provide all that is necessary for life. The sea brings danger as well; Johnny describes the terror of a hurricane that all but destroys a deserted island where she and her family are marooned. The sea rises and floods the entire island to a depth of six feet; they barely survive by tying themselves to the topmost branches of a tall tree. Johnny’s writing sparkles. She has humor and wisdom beyond her years as she describes life and customs on the island where she grew up. Her grandmother’s extended family, the trading station operated by her father, the local witch doctor, a native missionary, her father’s mistress after the death of her mother, and her first boyfriend are among the characters she describes with unflinching honesty. Cut off from the outside world, the island is so remote that six months pass between visits by passing ships. She learns at an early age to be self-reliant. Struck early by tragedy (her mother died when Johnny was nine years old), she helps her father care for four brothers and sisters until he falls ill and dies when she is sixteen. Friends including James A. Michener arrange a foster family in Hawaii where she pursues her education and re-unites with her two sisters. Out of print for more than sixty years, Johnny has added two new chapters to this classic and compelling book and illustrated it with family photos and three maps.

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About the Author:

Born in Tahiti, second child of Ngatokorua a Mata’a and Robert Dean Frisbie, Florence (Johnny) Frisbie spent most of her childhood on several of the Cook Islands, including an uninhabited atoll, Suvorov, and also in Samoa. As an orphan, following her father’s death, she completed her schooling in Hawaii, and went on to live and work in Japan, New Zealand, and again, briefly, in Rarotonga. Throughout her life Johnny maintained a journal in which she recorded her daily experiences. These provide the basis for her writings. Miss Ulysses, her first book, written in three languages (Puka-Pukan, Samoan, English), and was the first publication by a Pacific Island Woman writer. Her second book, Frisbies of the South Seas (1959), was also autobiographical, and written after her father’s death. Subsequent writings include an account of her return to Puka-Puka and reunion with her grandmother, newspaper columns about life in the Pacific, and numerous short stories about children’s experiences of life in the Pacific. For many years as a solo mother, Johnny managed to raise four children while employed variously as a secretary, work coordinator, performer, performance organiser/director of live floorshows, and both live and recorded television programmes, including for ten years as a panel member on a popular TV discussion show. She has also participated in film documentaries. She also has contributed to the work of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum in Hawaii and the Otago Museum in Dunedin, New Zealand, recording Puka-Pukan chants and songs. Most recently she participated in a documentary film, Homecoming: A Film About Puka-Puka, which she is hopeful will also highlight the plight of the Puka-Pukan people (and other atoll island dwellers) facing the consequences of global warming and sea level rise. She currently resides in Hawaii.

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