LIHU‘E — Judie Fernandez woke up Tuesday morning to a not-so-pleasant surprise. Several people had been calling her home and her husband’s work to express sadness for the death of Bill Fernandez. But it wasn’t Bill’s time yet. They had
LIHU‘E — Judie Fernandez woke up Tuesday morning to a not-so-pleasant surprise. Several people had been calling her home and her husband’s work to express sadness for the death of Bill Fernandez.
But it wasn’t Bill’s time yet. They had read that morning in The Garden Island a story on the death of William “Billy” Fernandes, 88, a former Territorial and state Representative, state Senator and Kaua‘i County Councilman.
“We’re so sorry Billy (Fernandes) passed away, but Bill Fernandez is alive and well,” said Judie Fernandez, trying to clear up confusion that led many to imagine that her husband had died.
Judie Fernandez said she got used to people calling her home looking for Billy Fernandez, so she wasn’t too surprised that people called about her husband’s supposed death.
However, this time the confusion went a little too far, and Judie just wanted to make sure everybody knows that her husband is still up and running at 79 years old.
“We, of course, extend our sympathies to the entire Fernandes family at their loss,” Judie Fernandez said of Billy Fernandes’ death.
Bill Fernandez
Bill Fernandez’ parents opened in 1939 the now-defunct Roxy Theater in Kapa‘a, which stood as the state’s largest movie theater for some time. The theater was demolished after sustaining damages from Hurricane Iniki in Sept. 11, 1992.
After attending Kamehameha School on O‘ahu, Billy Fernandez graduated from law school in Stanford University, and eventually became a judge in California.
He moved back home upon retiring and took up writing.
“My success in this larger world left a sense of emptiness within me,” Bill Fernandez, a half-Hawaiian, said on his website. “Hawaiians, who shared everything and never owned anything, were drowning in a new culture of capitalism and private property. This is why I decided to write novels to depict the common Hawaiians’ points of view as they struggled to adapt to changing times and politics.”
He has written four books. His third and most famous work, “Rainbows over Kapa‘a,” recounts his parents struggle to succeed during the sugar plantation days.
Judie Fernandez said her husband has been busy lately looking for a publisher for his fourth and newly finished book, “Cult of Ku,” a murder mystery set in 1920 Honolulu.
Bill Fernandez, “alive and well,” can be seen every Wednesday at John Lydgate’s Shipstore Gallery in Old Kapa‘a Town, giving a talk about his book or about the history of Kaua‘i. His lectures, accompanied by a Power Point slide show, go from 9:30 to 11 a.m.
Go to www.wfernandez.com for more information.
