Ken Sereno
Hi, I'm Ken. I was born in the Territory of Hawai'i on the island of Oahu in 1948. These days, I’m semi-retired, newly married, and living in Newton, a small but bustling town on the outskirts of Boston. I’m far from the landscapes of my youth, but I still find adventure in daily New England life. It’s an exciting new chapter to be sharing my art in my own ‘digital gallery’ and creating a shop of my prints. I’m happy to have you along for the journey! ​
My Story
I was born in the Territory of Hawai'i on the island of Oahu in 1948. In 1954 my family moved to Upcountry Maui where we lived below an extinct volcano, Mount Haleakala, on the rural semi-alpine slope overlooking the isthmus of Kulaokama'oma'o with Kahalawai (West Maui Mountains) on the far side. I attended public schools while surfing, fishing, and hiking in my spare time, which taught me to appreciate and love the elements of nature peculiar to Hawai'i.
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While the VietNam war raged elsewhere, I attended Maunaolu College and the University of Hawai'i studying Religion and English. In 1968 when the Pueblo Incident occurred (North Korea seized the USS Pueblo) I was moved to join the navy. After spending several years sailing Boston Harbor on a navy tug, I was discharged as the VietNam war wound down.
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I continued my studies of religion, philosophy and history while sailing around the Iberian Peninsula and later the Caribbean. In 1968 I moved to California doing an assortment of trades and professions.
My dream and obligation to contribute to my culture always burned bright in me and led me to write The Last Kahuna, a spiritual adventure novel about growing up in the South Pacific in the 1980s.
My debut novel: The Last Kahuna
The Last Kahuna. A Kahuna is a master craftsman in the Hawaiin tradition. One who specializes in an area of life and is his purpose in helping others and the world he comes to love. It is the late 1800’s and Aeala, the apprentice navigator is forced to take his small band of refugees across miles and miles of wild open sea in search of a new home. The vision of that new home, a verdant island in the South Pacific, and his faith in the vision, send him and his small band into an adventurous physical, magical and spiritual journey. Led by a great black shark, the brother of the fisher god, they travel to islands in the South Pacific, meet with catastrophe and crime and are ultimately saved by the one least likely. They meet the sage, Ka Mano, and his spirit travels with them on their perilous voyage and aids them in their quest to find a new home. The magic of the land, sea, and human spirit illuminates the story, and the coming of age of the young heroes and their responsibility for saving their world enlightens and inspires. The Last Kahuna is a recommended read for those looking to find their chosen way in life and be of intrinsic value to those around them and culture.
