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’Iokepa ’Imaikalani and Inette Miller were on their way to Portland — another stop on their months-long book tour — when a car accident took them on a detour to Crescent City. Early Sunday afternoon, the two were driving up U.S. Highway 199 through Hiouchi when they were struck head-on by a vehicle driven by Thomas B. Nosik. Nosik fled on foot and was found later that afternoon, authorities said. Nosik was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, hit-and-run causing injuries and driving with a suspended license, authorities said. Miller has a concussion and six broken ribs and has been in Sutter Coast Hospital for four days. She’s been suffering from amnesia, but said she “woke up today (Wednesday) with a fair amount of clarity.” Miller said she’s “truly blessed to be breathing,” but also to be in such a “compassionate community.” Her husband said there’s been an outpouring of generosity from Del Norters: they have been offered homes to stay in and a car to drive (theirs was totaled). Miller is a longtime journalist who was a war correspondent in Vietnam and Cambodia and is now an author. She and ’Imaikalani have been on the road promoting her latest book, “Grandmothers Whisper,” a memoir about meeting her husband, an aboriginal Hawaiian, moving to Hawaii and taking on a new life with no money and few possessions, returning to the ways of native Hawaiians. “Grandmothers Whisper” recently won the Visionary Award Book of 2011 for autobiography/biography by the Coalition of Visionary Resources. They started out on the East Coast, traveled west and had engagements in Monterey and Carmel. They were driving up the coast from Ukiah after a short break from the tour to the next book signing in Portland. But California wasn’t ready to let them go, they said. Miller said she has no recollection of the accident, but has been told what happened. They were driving along Highway 199 when a car came speeding toward them. ’Imaikalani was driving and his wife said he realized they were going to be hit so he turned the car so his side would take the brunt of the impact. The vehicle was pushed into a redwood tree on the side of the highway. “Everything is for a purpose,” Miller said. ’Imaikalani and Miller are adamant that they don’t feel hate toward Nosik, but encourage the community to come together and support him so he can change his life. He was recently released from jail after serving a sentence for assault. Without a culture or sense of belonging to the community, “people act out and don’t know how to control their actions,” ’Imaikalani said. The foundation of a community is healthy people, ’Imaikalani said. For thousands of years, tribes of people have taken responsibility for each person in the tribe and helped heal those who were struggling, he said. In Hawaiian culture, if two men were fighting, they would have to run side by side — not in a race — until they understood both of them were needed to survive, ’Imaikalani said. The community would decide when the “fight” was over, he said. A community is woven like a tapestry, Miller said, but nowadays so many people isolate themselves from other people or judge others for their indiscretions. “It’s not about making the person ‘The Other,’” she said, but to embrace him or her. They’ve cancelled immediate engagements, but plan to be in Portland for a book signing June 6 and then to fly from Seattle back to Hawaii on June 15 as planned. Miller’s book is called “Grandmothers Whispers” because it was the voice of ’Imaikalani’s grandmothers that changed his life from one filled with material possessions and bad behavior to one embracing his identity as an aboriginal Hawaiian. He had a spiritual epiphany. ’Imaikalani’s grandmothers said they would give him his culture, language and unconditional love, but he had to spend 10 years preparing before helping other people embrace their culture. ’Imaikalani gave away everything he owned and moved to Hawaii to live on the land among the people, he said. Shortly thereafter, he met Miller who was on vacation. They’ve been together ever since. Miller said their message is that those looking for answers to questions in their life can find them simply by asking and then listening for a response, which can come in different forms. “We each are born with the answers,” she said, “but we live in a noisy, distracting world.” She said she was a “reactive” and “confused” person, but has found some peace embracing Hawaiian culture and living off the land. Her book is about that — “I needed to write my thoughts and feelings,” she said. Reach Kelley Atherton at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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