Armine von Tempski

Armine von Tempski (or Tempsky) (1892, Maui, Hawaiian Islands – December 2, 1943, Fresno, California) was an American writer^[1][2] and one of Hawaii's best known authors.^[3][4] She was a granddaughter of Gustavus von Tempsky.^[1]

Armine Von Tempski's autobiographies and novels were based on her early life among the paniolos (cowboys) on the Haleakala cattle ranch^[5] atop the Haleakalā shield volcano. The Haleakala Ranch, which Jack London first visited in 1907,^[6] was his favourite^[7] of the Hawaiian ranches he enjoyed on several extended visits with his wife Charmian. The young Armine, then sixteen years old,^[8] asked London to read some of her stories and give his opinion. He said that they were "clumsy, incoherent tripe" but added that "every so often there's a streak of fire on your pages,"^[8] which encouraged her.

Her first published writing, in the early 1920s,^[3] was about efforts to restore the island of Kahoolawe after years of drought and overgrazing.

Personal life

She married California real estate agent^[1] Alfred Lathrop Ball on December 25, 1932, in Ventura County, California.^[9] They were friends of poet Don Blanding,^[10] who illustrated von Tempski's book, Ripe Breadfruit (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1935).

Note: While Von Tempski's year of birth is sometimes given^[11] or presumed^[12] as 1899, most source texts place it in 1892.

Bibliography

The Ox Bow Press in Woodbridge, Connecticut, publishes reprint editions of von Tempski's books.^[13]

Autobiographies

• 1940. Born in Paradise.^[14] (Bestseller.^[12]) Paperback: ISBN 0-918024-34-X.
• 1946. Aloha. (Sequel) Paperback: ISBN 0-918024-59-5. Hardcover: ISBN 0-918024-63-3.

Fiction

• 1927. Hula : a romance of Hawaii. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1988. ISBN 0918024609. OCLC 17353830. Hula. Hardcover: ISBN 0-918024-64-1 (the 1927 silent film Hula was based on it)
• 1928. Dust : a novel of Hawaii. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1991. ISBN 0918024862. OCLC 24142295. Hardcover: ISBN 0-918024-86-2.
• 1929. Fire : a novel of Hawaii. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1992. ISBN 0918024994. OCLC 26673117.
• 1933. Hawaiian harvest. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1990. ISBN 0918024730. OCLC 20932753. (Fictional account of the pineapple industry's beginnings on Maui) Hardcover: ISBN 0-918024-73-0.
• 1935. Ripe breadfruit. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1992. ISBN 0918024986. OCLC 26673104.
• 1940. Pam's paradise ranch : a story of Hawaii. Brown, Paul, 1893-1958. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1993. ISBN 091802496X. OCLC 26258819.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) (For younger readers.)
• 1941. Judy of the islands : a story of the South Seas. Burger, Carl, 1888-1967. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1993. ISBN 0918024978. OCLC 26258827.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• 1942. Thunder in heaven. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1990. ISBN 0918024757. OCLC 20932759. Hardcover: ISBN 0-918024-75-7.
• 1946. Bright spurs. Brown, Paul, 1893-1958. Woodbridge, Conn.: Ox Bow Press. 1993. ISBN 0918024951. OCLC 26258840.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)