"Too young for World War II and Korea and too old for Vietnam. I’m part of the “in-between the great wars” flower-power generation. Lahaina born, youngest of 4 children, raised on Oahu, Catholic educated at Maryknoll but finishing high school as a boarder at the Protestant founded Mid-Pacific Institute. Of Hawaiian-Chinese ancestry my dominant home culture was Hawaiian. After high school I moved on to memorable years at the University of Oregon in Eugene where youthful exuberance, arrogance, and the expectation that our generation would be the one to change the world was not only tolerated but welcomed. It was collegiality at its best. I loved it! Musically inclined, the call of the 60’s folk music boom lured me out of college and into the pop culture revolution. Our little college band, the Travelers Three, set out on a 60’s musical odyssey criss-crossing the nation for eight years and leaving a legacy of four albums with Captiol and Elektra Records. I learned a lot about life. I learned a lot about this country. Meanwhile, I became father to 4 wonderful children and grandfather to 7 grandchildren. Having barely survived the flower-power lifestyle of the 60’s the Islands called me home in 1975 just in time to escape the black hole of flower power oblivion. I had to start my life all over again. In my mid-30’s I had to search my soul as to who I was. What does it mean to be a Hawaiian? Pursuing the answer to this question led me to profoundly enlightening encounters with myself and a new appreciation of my ancestry and my ancestral home. I spent the latter part of the 70’s as a Hawaiian activist and then went on to become an Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee, A state legislator for 12 years, Director of Culture and Arts for the City & County of Honlulu, a Special Assistant to the Governor on Hawaiian Affairs, Director of Waikiki Development for the City & County of Honolulu and, currently in post-retirement, Director of Culture and Education for the Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association."
-Peter Apo- |
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| Peter's great new album celebrates the land that he loves in song. |
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