View from the Volcano: A Rebel’s Crusade in Hawaii Tourism

People always asked how I did it.

In the late 1970s, Kathy Clarke was the midwife for what became a burgeoning incentive travel industry in Hawai’i. Part memoir and part trade chronicle, View from the Volcano deftly combines the events of Clarke’s personal life with stories of the fitful growth of the Aloha State’s most influential industry. ＂Impossible＂ was not a word in Clarke’s vocabulary as she raised seven children and helped create a thriving tourism model. Still in the game, passionate and adventurous, Hawai’i’s oldest living DMC, Clarke continues to delight in instigating minor rebellions.

For forty-five years, Kathy Clarke has been immersed in Hawai’i hospitality. Since 1980, Clarke has built her career as an innovator in Hawai’i event and destination management. The COVID-19-induced tourism shutdown launched her writing career. Her first collection of micro memoirs, My Life is a Road Atlas, was published in December 2021. Her life-long love of Hawai’i’s hospitality industry was the impetus for this book.

The Hali’a Aloha Series publishes personal essays, poetry and prose in micro-memoir format. The series celebrates moments big and small, harnessing the power of short forms to preserve the lived experiences of the storytellers.