Lono Waiwaiole

We are thrilled to be hosting a book-launching party for Lono Waiwaiole‘s newest novel, Lizzie’s Lullaby, a rollercoaster ride through the underside of Portland in the 1990s. This is the fifth novel in the series that began with Lono’s debut novel, Wiley’s Lament, which was a finalist for an Oregon Book Award for Fiction.

Lono Waiwaiole was born in San Francisco and spent his childhood moving up and down the West Coast, a ride that took him to fifteen different schools by the time he graduated from high school in Portland. Waiwaiole is half Hawaiian, a quarter Italian, and a quarter something his family refers to as Pennsylvania Dutch. This tangled web has a significant impact on the way he looks at people — in his life and in his writing. He is a retired high school social studies and English teacher. He has also worked as editor of a weekly newspaper, associate editor of a regional magazine, director of publications and sports information at a small liberal arts college, and as a professional poker player — a career which might have lasted longer had he been a little better at it.