Memories of Kim Alan Gravelle

In memory of

Kim Alan Gravelle

Honolulu, Hi

1941 - April 4, 2021

1941 - Apr 4, 2021

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Gabriel Gravelle

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Kim Gravelle. Author, writer, adventurer and amazing storyteller. Love you deeply, you will be missed by so many friends and family.

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Comments:

Nic Maennling

My cabin mate on the SS Canberra on our way to Auckland. So many stories, and thank you for the reminder... Read more My cabin mate on the SS Canberra on our way to Auckland. So many stories, and thank you for the reminder of his passing. He was... Read more My cabin mate on the SS Canberra on our way to Auckland.... Read more

Bob Macfarlane

Tikila and I interacted with the Gravelle family for only a few years while we lived in Suva but that period was filled with fun and happy memories. Kim introduced us to the best picnic spots around Suva and we shared many happy meals in each others homes. There is no doubt he was a great story teller including: 1. his filming of shoes only of participants at a conference because he was bored and wanted to make a statement about how character is reflected in shoes, as he told it that job didn't last much longer, and 2. how he motored through Suva wearing a gorilla suit to the shock and horror of the conservative denizens of the, then, hyper conservative town. We also remember the day he came round to our house to share the bad news of his newly diagnosed illness and how little time he had. It was wonderful that he was able to spin that out to well above the average for that condition, a testament to his zest for life and adventure.

The Macfarlane family would like to share our sincere sorrow with Sisi and Gabrielle at Kim's final passing but suggest that he might like to think of it as going on a new adventure so we should not be too sad.

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Steve Michell

Louie the Fish! DeNolfo

We miss you Kim! Always a source of great wit and humor, one of my longest and best loved mates from the South Pacific!
Rest In Peace Kim!

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Gabriel Gravelle

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Gabriel Gravelle

Books and Published stories by Kim Gravelle including Romancing The islands, Inuk, Fiji's Heritage and inflight stories from around the South Pacific writing for the airlines as he travelled.

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Gabriel Gravelle

John Salmon

I wrote a piece for Kim which was posted below but it was for a different purpose and does not convey what a wonderful friend Kim was for the six years I lived in Suva. We had so many laughs, beers, escapades, frolics and adventures (including sailing rubber dinghys across Suva Bay). We even Morris danced together. Kim and Sisi and Sheila and me and our boys were very close and spent a lot of time together all over Fiji. I kept in touch with Kim after we moved back to the UK in 1985 but caught up with him again many times in Fiji, Kona and Honolulu. He and Sisi came to visit us in England. I have been privileged and honoured to call him my friend for so many years. I shall miss him hugely.

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Comments:

Gabriel Gravelle

Thank John for your friendship through all the years. Kim still has an article he wrote for the inflight ... Read more Thank John for your friendship through all the years. Kim still has an article he wrote for the inflight magazine called "Salmons... Read more Thank John for your friendship through all the years.... Read more

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John Salmon

Kim. Morris Dancer and Wonderful Person

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Gabriel Gravelle

Message from Barry and Ronna Gardner

Dear Friends,

On Easter Sunday, Kim Gravelle died at home in Hawaii, and Ronna and I commend him to you Kai Vitis, even if you never met him.

He was that rare exception of Vulagi, who “became one of us”, and left a wealth of happy memories.

An American, Kim arrived on our shores, young, after New Guinea, and dropped anchor “Vaka Dua”!

Among his wealth of writings was his book “Romancing the Islands”, whose title encapsulates his attitudes. He wrote accurately, but always lovingly, of the Islands and their peoples, often with a lovely sting in the tail of his expressive manuscripts.

We worked together at The Fiji Times, where, among his many duties of compiling, we created “Islands”, Air Pacific’s in-flight magazine, that saw him fly their network to bring back beautiful stories.

He married a Fijian girl, Sisilia, who we love. Their son, Gabriel studied under Professor Doctor Randy Thaman at the USP, to graduate as a Marine Biologist.

After retiring to Hawaii, Sisi put herself through language teaching study at their University, graduated, and now teaches there! Not bad for a village girl 👏👏

After an active and adventurous young life, Kim was struck by ALS, but never buckled under it.

In him, Fiji enjoyed a very worthwhile addition to its people, of which he certainly became one.

Ronna and I loved him.

RIP Talatala (Story Teller) NA NOQU I TAU

Barry and Ronna Gardner

South Florida

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Gabriel Gravelle

Nic Maennling

I first met Kim in October 1968 in Vancouver aboard the P&O’s SS Canberra. We spent the next two weeks in a whirlwind of talking about our respective lives, accompanied by Bass Ale in tall thin pint glasses. We both loved photography and managed to not take one single image whilst aboard ! We explored the ship, one day climbing as many outside ladders (staircases) as we could. A hidden voice emerging from an immaculate white uniform asked if they could be of any assistance, as we were clearly not allowed to be where we were. We said we were simply curious. During this exchange we were invited to the radio room where we listened to a live broadcast by Hanoi Hanna during the war in Viet Nam. She said that the war would be over by spring.

One sunny day Kim decided to have an imaginary argument with an empty deckchair which resulted in him picking it up and flinging it overboard. He walked away triumphant with many jaws on the deck.

We met a lovely blond who desperately wanted to tour the engine room, a no no in those days. Kim’s idea was to make her look like a bloke (ha), with an Aussie hat and no make up. The ruse did not work and she was denied.

We parted company in Auckland, later meeting up in Melbourne. He rented an apartment from a colleague of mine but the view of bricks and windows did not appeal, so he painted beautiful bucolic views on each window. When sunlit it was a real treat. Next he rented a very rustic studio on Rathdown Street which had a floor made from local Bluestone and a loft.

Kim loved ships and once enquired about going on a freighter that went from Melbourne to Tasmania. This modern ship was notable because it had a huge sail to help offset the cost of fuel. Permission denied.

At some point he moved to Sydney. I was up there with our mutual friend Tony Kerr and spent a memorable Christmas with Kim. Black candles and steaks all round. Kim found a beautiful old brick railway signal structure (lots of windows ! ) that was abandoned. He desperately wanted to live there and tried to find the owners but to no avail.

One day the three of us went camping for a weekend north of Sydney. Out by local train and a hike to a location by a river. One hilarious memory was of Kim over six feet tall and about 120 lbs. running with an enormous backpack seemingly defying gravity. You had to be there.

In about 1973, Kim and a friend dropped by our farm south of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was on his way hitchhiking up north. He was not well, suffering from jaundice. We were very worried the day he left. Apparently he made it and wrote the book: “INUK: The Eskimo Who Hated the Snow”, published in Chicago. To this day we proudly display on of the prints in the book. It is of a mythical bird chasing an Eskimo 7/7 1974.

Returning from a meeting in Sydney, Australia I visited Kim & Sisi in Suva. He once planned to dress up in his gorilla outfit and stand on a small hilltop to scare the commuters returning from work. After some deep thought, he realised how accurate some were at throwing rocks. They also went to visit Sisi’s parents and I tagged along. It was a ¾ hr hike through the bush to get there (no roads) and one had to help out by carrying something. Her Mum & Dad were building new kitchen made out of cement blocks. Guess what we carried ! I received permission from Sisi’s Father to not kneel at the meal because I simply could not do it. The Kava ceremony was completely new to me and I felt very humbled to be part of their meal. Sisi’s sister was there and I made friends with her daughter who was about five years old. We went hiking and found a grove of enormous bamboo. I still have slides of that adventure.

Much later in 2011, returning from a meeting in Sydney, my wife Jeanie and I visited Kim & Sisi in Honolulu for a few days. It was a joy to see them again. We laughed as we always did back in the late 1960s. I could not fathom how Sisi could lift Kim out of the wheelchair onto the bed. I tried amid a fit of hysterics and gave up. I have since learned about Sisi’s athletic abilities and can now understand why.

Kim was very dear to me and I treasured his friendship. His outlook on life was always a surprise. He was so positive.

Nic Maennling
+1-613-259-2548
maennling@sympatico.ca

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Gabriel Gravelle

Sarah K

Fiji Islands, Fiji

My beautiful momma, Kim's daughter, and Kim out for an adventure.

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Gabriel Gravelle

Sarah K

One of my mother and I's favorite photos.

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Gabriel Gravelle

Sarah K

1995, Fiji Islands, Fiji

They say that children have little to no cognitive memory at the age of three, but I am living proof this is incorrect. I remember meeting Kim Gravelle, my grandfather, in Fiji with my parents at the ripe ol' age of three and playing in the course sand and the warm ocean water. I remember gathering hermit crabs while he tried to fish from the shore, and him laughing while I tried to catch geckos and toads (Mom freaked over the toads because, you know, they're poisonous). Though the actual times I got to meet my grandfather were few, he has always been this magical creature in some magical, tropical land all my life and I loved him. He got to share in some of my most magical and profound memories between Fiji and Hawaii, and I am 98% sure that I have him to thank for the wanderlust and writing genes. We miss you so much, Grandpa! Rest in peace. Until we meet again <3

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Gabriel Gravelle

Excerpt from one of his former classmates B. Hooker (Vancouver Canada)

How does one sum up the life of a school friend you have known for 65 of his almost 80 years? That is especially challenging when that life has been as active as Kim Gravelle’s. He might have been the original Energiser Bunny before Eveready ever thought of itof it. Although he was born in Northern Michigan, our shared 65 years began when he moved with his parents to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where he enrolled in the local public high school from which he graduated in 1959. But even there he anticipated much of his later life by signing on as a cub reporter/photographer for the local Daily Times-News newspaper.
He then enrolled in the local Central Michigan University where he actively published both photographs and poetry in the campus literary magazine. However, even at nineteen his adventurous spirit was not to be confined to a small-town university and he set off on a six-month motorcycle trip through Europe, partly supported by an airport freight handler because at 6’2” and 125 lbs. he could reach cargo from the pointy part of the hold that heavier fellows could not. After a couple more years at back CMU, continuing wanderlust and a new marriage took him to Portland, OR, where he worked as a journalist and where his daughter, Gudrun, was born.
That marriage dissolved after a few years and Kim, always the adventurer, headed via Vancouver, BC, eventually to the South Pacific, briefly New Zealand and then Australia. From Melbourne he began writing for an oil-industry magazine that took him to Papua New Guinea. Four years after working in PNG, he began writing articles for South Pacific in-flight magazines which took him all over the South Pacific, providing the background for his first travel book Romancing the Islands.
Then in 1974 the newly independent PNG expelled ex-pats. Kim was among them but he soon landed on his feet through a want-ad for an editor at the newly founded Fiji Sun newspaper. That led to a long newspaper career in the capital, Suva, and also a couple more books including a history of the country Fiji Times. The adventures continued with trips to remote locations like hanging out of a helicopter, trusty Nikon in hand, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal. But, more importantly, it led to a diplomatic corps Christmas party where he met a young Fijian woman, Sisilia, who was to become his wife of nearly 43 years and mother of their son.
However, in the late 1980s, his travel to remote South Pacific locations and hiking into bush destinations became problematic, as he began to experience some difficulties walking. In 1990 a consultation in Melbourne confirmed a diagnosis of Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS). Kim was undeterred by this. He continued working with the aid of hiking poles and eventually crutches until he finally had to resort to wheelchairs.
In 2003 he moved to Hawaii, there he continued to enjoy life, listening to his favorite classical and folk music, exercising in the pool with his physiotherapist, reading and maintain a wide correspondence with his many friends from his decades of adventures. He was a deeply sensitive man of boundless curiosity and profound friendship, easily moved to tears by some of the cruel situations encountered during his travels in the South Pacific.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 43 years, Sisilia,; their son, Gabriel ; his daughter, Gudrun; and his two grandchildren, who will all miss him along with scores of friends from around the world.

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Gabriel Gravelle

Shared a heart

Gabriel Gravelle

Words from a family friend J . Salmon

Kim led a very full life. When he was young he left home in Oregon and caught a freighter bound from Boston to Liverpool. He was nervous but his grandfather told him, “Don’t worry. A man born to be hanged will not drown”. He toured Europe on a BSA Bantam motorbike. A defining incident followed an accident in the rain in Denmark when he was taken in by a Danish policemen and his family and looked after until he was well enough to move on. His impressions of Europe was that it was wet and cold and he soon found a berth on another cargo ship to Australia where he lived in Melbourne for a couple of years. He made his way to the South Pacific in the late 1960s.
When he settled in Suva Kim lived on a concrete hulled houseboat moored at what was then the Tradewinds Hotel. Should a hurricane come through he would take a room in the hotel not trusting the boat not to break in half.

Kim was an explorer. His expeditions were always fun. He enjoyed trekking across the islands enjoying what he called the mind-soothing spaciousness of the back country and caving in the Sigatoka valley and Wailotua. He loved rafting or sometimes just drifting down rivers from as far into the interior as any bus would take him. There he would get out, blow up his 6 foot rubber dinghy and take a couple of days floating down to the coast staying in villages overnight. He nearly didn’t make it on one trip when the rubber dinghy, punctured by a sharp piece of flotsam, was sucked into a whirlpool which threatened to suck him under water as well. He escaped by climbing into an overhanging tree and waited for an hour to be rescued. But undeterred one windy day he sailed the dinghy from Suva Point to Lami across Suva Bay holding a striped umbrella for a sail. Way out in the bay in a 3 foot swell the Oolooloo tourist boat hurried out to see if he was a shipwrecked mariner or just some crazy person. Luckily the trade winds eventually blew him straight into the Bay of Islands to the hotel for a deserved beer.
Kim enjoyed a beer or two but he thought that occasionally a few beers dulled his sense of security such as, in a moment of madness after an hour drinking with a man he met at the Suva Travelodge, he agreed to join him in the first leg of a recreation of Captain Bligh’s journey in the Bounty Launch from Tonga to Timor. Kim sailed with him from Nuku’alofa to Suva. It was for Kim, a self-proclaimed landlubber, a terrifying journey. One entry in his account of the trip reiterates the words Captain Bligh wrote in his log; “in the evening it rained hard and we again experienced a dreadful night”. 23 feet long with wooden slats for benches, no deck but totally exposed to the elements the Bounty Launch sailed through rain, lightning, mountainous waves and surf and encountered sperm whales four or five times longer than the length of the boat.
Kim was simply fun loving and always fun to be with. He toured the south Pacific countries searching out stories for the various national airlines’ in-flight magazines which he wrote for and edited. He engaged with all sorts of people good and bad, he said they were mostly good, experienced ghosts and ancestral spirits, found crocodiles and bush creatures, open-ocean sailors and nostalgic whalers. He spent evenings around the grog bowl with villagers on islands and inaccessible places or with toddy drinkers or with pub folk. He joined with a group of Brits who learnt English traditional Morris dancing and had great fun taking performances to villages where Kaivalagis making spectacles of themselves was not common.
Kim was hugely talented. A photographer, journalist and author. His first book, a children’s book, was “Inuk – the Eskimo who hated the snow” but his Fiji books include “Romancing the Islands (Journeys in the South Pacific)”, “The Fiji Explorer’s Handbook” and the “History of Fiji” which was first serialised in the Fiji Times and then reprinted in book form.
Kim was diagnosed with ALS on a trip to Oregon in the late 1980s but was determined not to let that stop him doing things. But eventually ALS caught up with him and he had to use a wheelchair. He wisely moved from Suva to Hawaii where he could access excellent medical care with modern facilities and support. Living first in Kona on the big island he later moved to a 20th floor wheelchair accessible apartment in Honolulu where he spent the last ten years of his life but still enjoyed occasional trips to Europe, the UK and to Fiji.
Kim was an adventurer, explorer and pioneer. He was once described (by Barry Gardiner) as “one of life’s wonderful people” and that is a true epithet for Kim.

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Siteri Irwin

Comments:

Siteri Irwin

Issa Gabriel so true of your father we were neighbours in Tradewinds Hotel. I remember the Morris dancing... Read more Issa Gabriel so true of your father we were neighbours in Tradewinds Hotel. I remember the Morris dancing ,the trips up Namosi... Read more Issa Gabriel so true of your father we were neighbours... Read more