Pearl Harbor Child Author Visiting Missouri Valley Monday
Missouri Valley College will host a unique Pearl Harbor presentation at 1 p.m. Monday, April 21 in the Murrell Library & Academic Support Center.
Pearl Harbor Child, a book written by Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson, will be the focus of Nicholson’s presentation. It is an extraordinary opportunity to hear her reflections on history and heritage as she discusses her family’s experiences during the attack on Pearl Harbor—an event that changed the course of history.
Nicholson was born in Hawaii to a Hawaiian mother and Caucasian father. As civilians, they were living in Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack, and stayed until forced to give up their home after the end of the war.
Her mother was a hula teacher, so Dorinda made her debut as a hula dancer at the age of three. She graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, then attended the University of Hawaii, where she was spotted by a local TV producer and invited to be the hula dancer on a weekly show, “Campus Canteen.”
When she was 18, Dorinda won the KGMB-TV “Flight to Fame” contest for a hula performance, which took her to the mainland for the first time. While there, she went on to visit her father’s family in Missouri. After attending college in Kansas City, she became a flight attendant for a national airline, and then married Larry Nicholson, a photographer, who is also a designer, illustrator, and multimedia producer. Dorinda and Larry work as a team in producing their books and DVD’s.
After the birth of their four sons, Dorinda earned undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Counseling Psychology. She worked for a large community mental health center in Kansas City as a psychotherapist.
Nicholson believes it is her mission to write World War II stories for both students and adults to bring history to life. Her primary audience is the classroom, but her audience has also included the U.S. Embassy in Prague, and lectures in Guam, Saipan, Jakarta, and at Pearl Harbor events.
The presentation will be held in the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, and refreshments will be provided. Sponsors for the event are Wood & Huston Bank, Campbell-Lewis Funeral Home, and Charlie and Brenda Guthrie.