Pacific Magazine > Magazine > January 1, 2003

Stuff We Like

Stuff We Like

Missing Out of Apia

At 5 a.m. on October 3, 1955, the 69-foot Joyita, with 25 people on board, slipped out of the harbor at Apia, Samoa on a routine trip to the Tokelau Islands. She never arrived. The ship was found five weeks later near Fiji. No trace of those on board was ever found. In Joyita: Solving the Mystery, David G. Wright explores the fate of his mother’s cousin, who was one of those on board. After a commission of inquiry and an earlier book about the incident written in 1962, Wright found that there were still many unanswered questions. This book is an account of his search for the truth about the fate of the Joyita, her crew and passengers. Check it out. Joyita: Solving the Mystery, published by the University of Auckland Press, www.auckland.ac.nz/aup. NZ$29.95.

The Many Names of Fish

Congratulations to Bess Press on the release of Field Guide to the Samoan Archipelago. It’s a well-researched and beautifully researched guide to the fish, birds, mammals and insects of the Samoan islands. Writer and illustrator Meryl Rose Goldin is a naturalist who volunteered for the Dept. of Marine and Wildlife Resources in American Samoa. In addition to a carefully documented narrative and subtly rendered illustrations, Goldin provides the scientific name, the English common name and the traditional Samoan names for each of the species she discusses. This book is a must for anyone living in or traveling to the Samoas—and it’s a pleasure for anyone who enjoys well-designed books. Field Guide to the Samoan Archipelago, by Meryl Rose Goldin, is published by Bess Press, www.besspress.com. $14.95.

Virtual Social Science

Northern Marianas College has stepped out into the world of virtual discourse with the launch of the Micronesian Journal of History and Social Sciences in Web form. The architecture of the site includes the usual table of contents, abstracts and reviews, but there are also good links to a variety of Micronesia public and private resources. There are also photo galleries and CD reviews of a host of Micronesian ethnic music recordings. Readers can link to a forum to discuss each feature. An innovative concept in helping research permeate the real and virtual worlds. The Micronesian Journal of History and Social Sciences, supported by Northern Marianas College, can be found at www.mjhss.com.

Chants for Those Between Worlds

The Tahitian Choir, Vol. II is the continuation of discographer Pascal Nabet-Meyer’s recordings of Tahitian choirs on the island of Rapa Iti. Their haunting music, which Nabet-Meyer refers to as “microtonal” is, according to him, “as primitive and severe to our ears as the early Flemish paintings are to our eyes.” In some of the chants, there may be up to 16 groups singing 16 inter-related melodies—all as tight and eerie as Russian Orthodox liturgies. This is a truly unusual presentation of a music so remote and unique that we must be grateful to Nabet Meyer and personalities like Quincy Jones who have shared their personal enchantment with a wider world. The Tahitian Choir: Rapa Iti, Sanachie. $16.95.