Editors' Note

One of the ways that the Center for Biographical Research carries out its mission to advance the interdisciplinary and multicultural study of life writing is through its Biography Monograph Series. We're pleased to announce the publication of two new books—one an essential volume for life writing scholars everywhere, and the other an important contribution to Hawai'i, the place our Center calls home.

We're very proud to announce the publication of On Diary, by Philippe Lejeune, one of the best-known and provocative theorists of autobiography and diary. This collection of English translations brings together in a single volume his most significant work on diaries. Co-edited and with critical introductions by Jeremy Popkin and Julie Rak, On Diary makes Lejeune's expertise, humor, and eloquence available to a much wider audience.

Talking Hawai'i's Story: Oral Histories of an Island People is the first volume in over a generation to showcase the work of Hawai'i's Center for Oral History. Co-edited by Warren Nishimoto, Michi Kodama-Nishimoto, and Cynthia A. Oshiro, Talking Hawai'i's Story features oral histories from twenty-nine residents of Hawai'i, whose lives span the entire twentieth century and beyond.

We've been honored to have the privilege of working on these books, and we are very happy to tell readers of Biography that both are now available from the University of Hawai'i Press.

We would also like to note with sadness the death of Kazuko Hardy, who for many years volunteered at the Center for Biographical Research, working on the cataloguing and maintenance of our substantial reference library (6,000 volumes and counting).

Kazuko was a truly remarkable person. She received the first Interdisciplinary Studies degree in Biography awarded by the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, producing some very fine work on the lives of Japanese carpenters in Hawai'i. As a graduate student, she continued her work in life writing, until illness—and her incredibly busy life—led her to decide that she didn't really need the graduate degree to do the work.

She was optimistic when other people wouldn't be, outspoken about wrongs when others would avoid trouble, and passionately devoted to her friends and her own interests. She was also exceptionally generous, and we at the Center all benefited from knowing her.