Interview with Jan Walker
Today, Tyler R. Tichelaar is pleased to interview Jan Walker, who is here to talk about her new book “A Farm in the South Pacific Sea.”
Tyler: What made you decide to tell this story about 1960s Tonga? Jan: June and I had always been close in spite of our age difference. She knew I was writing and publishing other works, and she wanted her Tonga story told. It’s her story but the Tonga setting and her reason for going there play a major role. She’d kept extensive diaries during her Tonga years and taken many pictures. She gave me her photo albums, personal papers and letters from that time. We went through the albums so I could make notes about people, places and events. I read all the letters and papers, interviewed her at length and reviewed all the literature I could find about Tonga of that time. I wrote the original version of her story prior to her death in the mid-90s. I rewrote what became “A Farm in the South Pacific Sea” after King Taufa`ahau Tupou IV died in 2006. His death and ensuing events in the kingdom rekindled my interest in her story. Tyler: What made you decide to publish the book now as opposed to before June died? Jan: When she started having major health issues, I concentrated on caring for her as much as possible. I commuted from the Seattle area to Hawaii frequently during the last two years of her life, while also working full time as a correctional educator and carinf for my mainland family. I knew the book would need a major rewrite. She was pleased to have the draft to read and share with friends. I wrote other things, then got her story out again shortly after the death of the Tongan king. Tyler: Tell us about your main character, June Sandusky, and what leads her to living in Tonga? Jan: June Sandusky is the name I chose for the actual June. The story is a fictionalized account of her life and struggles in the kingdom. I’ve changed all the other characters’ names, with the exception of the king. In the story, and in fact, June became interested in spiny lobster during a dive in Hawai`i, where she tried to stop a native free-diver (no scuba gear) from taking the tail of a female lobster that was in the process of extruding eggs in the reef. June was living and working in Honolulu at that time as an escape from Seattle and memories of three failed marriages that had all occurred there. Her marriages are mentioned in the book. June started researching the possibility of farming spiny lobster in enclosed pens in the sea. Successful shrimp farming was being done on Oahu at that time. She discovered spiny lobster farming was being researched in Florida and New Zealand. She queried several South Pacific countries about the possibility and chose Tonga for its freedom from rule of another nation. Though Tonga was a British protectorate at that time (that ended in 1970), it was a monarchy ruled by the king and a privy council. There’s a good bit about Brits in the kingdom even as King Tupou IV was moving the country toward total sovereignty. Tyler: Was there anything you intentionally added or fictionalized at June’s request, or left out, and for what reasons, if you’re willing to share? Jan: I changed her last name, her mother’s and sister’s names, Betty Peace Corps’ name, and all the Tongan characters’ names, with the exception of the king. I wrote the story much as she recorded it in her notes and told it to me. She wrote as a journalist; I wrote as a novelist. Tyler: Where does the “Farm” in the title come into the story? Jan: June entered the kingdom with a visa and permission from the king to search for and establish an in-sea spiny lobster nursery or farm. She wanted to hatch and raise spiny lobster in an enclosed environment in a protected site in the ocean, and that is indeed what she accomplished. Tyler: Did you need to do much research beyond the information June provided you, especially after her death? Was a Tonga visit necessary, for example? Jan: I did a thorough review of the literature and have files filled with information that weren’t needed in the book. Though I’ve always written fiction, my earliest published works were produced for academia. Reading everything I could find about Tonga of that era and learning all I could about its history seemed necessary to settle me into the place. It was easy to get into June’s head. I’d known her all my life. Tyler: Will you tell us a little of the history of Tonga for readers not familiar with it? How much had it been influenced by the West and what was its political and government situation in the 1960s? Jan: Tonga is the only South Pacific country never colonized by a European or other nation. It is a constitutional monarchy, with the king as head of state, with a privy council made up of his cabinet of ministers, which includes his prime ministers and the governors of the northern island groups, Vava`u and Ha`apai. (The island where June established her in-sea nursery is in the Ha`apai Group.) The legislative branch of the privy council includes seven nobles elected by thirty-three hereditary nobles and nine representatives elected by taxpayers. In the 1960s, women could not vote. Some members of the privy council were shocked to learn that June was a woman. They believed June to be a man’s name, one chosen from a western calendar. The king and his minister of agriculture who invited June to the kingdom and gave her permission to search for a farmable lagoon knew June was female. The king was progressive, anxious to move the country from subsistence existence to a trade-based economy, and saw an opportunity in June’s proposal. Tyler: I’m reminded, when you mention the king of Tonga, of “Anna and the King of Siam” also known as “The King and I”? Is that a fair comparison to the cultural shock June must experience in Tonga and dealing with a monarch? Jan: June had spent time in developing countries on her world travels, and she’d studied the kingdom and culture extensively. She expected to raise some eyebrows with governing officials. Still, she wasn’t prepared for the level of resistance from the male-dominated culture. She went to Tonga to dive and work in the sea. She wore a two piece bathing suit designed for a working diver, the top engineered for full movement, the bottom for easy removal when she took breaks from her long hours in the sea. Most Tongan women still went into the sea fully covered in valas (a length of fabric wrapped and tied for modesty and comfort) in those years. June was an independent woman on her own since age seventeen, with a history of naval shipyard work in Seattle as World War II wound down. She later worked on major construction sites with Morrison Knudsen and earned respect from her male counterparts. She also turned heads. She was almost six feet tall, with a figure that turned heads. Her meetings with the king went well. He respected her and her contribution to his country’s economy. She used her own money to pay the Tongans who worked in the lobster nursery and in her island home. She had one serious adversary who is called Asa Fremont in the book. She called him the darling of the privy council. She didn’t know what influence he had, or which council members continued to resent her presence, but she never doubted that he visited her island home to keep an eye on her progress. Tyler: I partly asked about Tonga’s past because of the character Tavita, who is half-British. Is his Western blood an attraction to June? Is he a bit of a romantic interest for her even though he’s married? Jan: More than a bit, though June was determined to deny her attraction to him. At first she found his blue eyes, which were unusual in a Tongan, to be cold and his demeanor overbearing. She’d suffered three short marriages to men that she said were attracted to her free spirit until she became a wife, then wanted to control her. She’s determined to earn Tavita’s approval and support for her project. He’s determined to help keep westerners and others from turning Tonga into another South Seas tourist trap. She struggles with her attraction to him, and he to her, during the trip where she accompanies him and nine other men to the Ha`apai Group of islands for a diving and trading trip. Tavita’s divers are taking fish and clams aboard for sale on Tonga`tapu, the main island. Tavita, his brother-in-law and first mate are also buying handicrafts for sale on the main island. There is an intense moment their last night at sea. June has broken a bone in her foot, and Tavita is attending to her. But the moment is short-lived. Being back on the main island, plus the unexpected arrival of a Seattle man (sent by June’s mother) helps June keep her priorities in order. Tyler: And what about the other man in the novel, Tomasi, who’s referred to as “a bronzed Adonis with no last name” in the book’s description? Is he June’s real love interest? Jan: He arrives on Mango Island, where June is granted the right to build a fale (palm frond house) to help June with her project. He becomes her chief diver and, in time, her lover. She soon realizes that “love” is not really part of the equation. He’s a man who wants children, and possibly a passport to the U.S. Theirs is a difficult relationship, though he does help her with her project and helps her keep her thoughts from Tavita, who is married. (Readers will learn that Tavita’s marriage was arranged by the crown to control banana plantation land, and that his wife lives in a private convent.) Tyler: I mentioned June’s relationship issues from her past, including her three short marriages. Overall, how do they affect her relationships with men in Tonga? Jan: She is clear that she will never again marry. She had been celibate the last four years before moving to Tonga, and grows to admit that she misses sex. Her attraction to Tavita is unsettling. Tongan men are attracted to her. Tomasi fulfills a physical and emotional need for a time. She has to come to terms with her true relationship failings and needs, and her determination to complete her goal of establishing a spiny lobster nursery in the sea, before she can free herself to accept a meaningful partnership with a man. Tyler: Jan, ultimately, what do you think being in Tonga means to June? Is it a place to escape from her past, or a place to start over? Jan: In one sense, she’s starting over as a result of her failed marriages and childlessness. In addition to proving that such in-sea farming in a remote place could lead to a productive industry, June is also trying to escape her domineering mother’s reach. Her mother divorced an unfaithful husband, June’s father, and left behind her favored child, June’s older sister. June’s mother built her own small empire in Seattle. She discounted June’s successes in the construction and real estate fields, and belittled her for being unable to conceive a child. She manipulated June’s first two marriages. June wanted to accomplish something beyond her mother’s reach, so choosing spiny lobster farming in the Kingdom of Tonga also served as a means of escape. Tyler: Jan, what made you decide to write this book, and was it originally June’s suggestion or did you want to write it and approach her? What about the story fascinated you? Jan: It was June’s suggestion. She read some of my writings and believed I had mastered the craft well enough to take on the project. A professional journalist who had tried to write a book found the more intimate details of June’s story didn’t fit her journalistic style. In the end, the journalist backed out of the contract. That happened several years before I started writing for June. Tyler: Why do you think readers would or should be interested in a rather obscure Pacific country and events from nearly half a century ago? Is the story relevant to today in your opinion? Jan: Perhaps for the same reason readers were interested in Isak Dinesen’s “Out of Africa” at the time it was published. Most readers won’t become personally involved in such adventures, but they will experience struggles, tragedies, triumphs, failures and all the emotions June experienced during her time in Tonga. Women especially will identify with June’s personal relationships with men who disappointed her and hurt her emotionally and physically. Some women will relate to June’s desire to have a child, and the sorrow at failing to conceive. Women were oppressed in Tonga during the time of this story. That oppression may differ from other developing nations, but it is part of global history. June was a woman who forged her way in a man’s world, beginning in her teen years when she took the helm of a passenger ferry boat on Puget Sound, through her shipyard work post World War II where she earned journeyman status as a coppersmith to her Tonga Venture. We all, women and men, have a life journey. Every journey is relevant. Tyler: What kinds of responses have you received from readers so far about the book? Have any of the responses surprised you or especially pleased you? Jan: So many readers opened notes with “Wow!” that I have decided to say the book has a “Wow factor.” One male reviewer called it “…entertaining to the end.” That surprised me because I find it rather serious. Another male called it “…an emotion- and thought-provoking romance…and page-turner. Several women have said they felt like they were there with June, walking alongside her on the beach, relating to all that happened to her throughout the story. I have been pleased with readers’ comments, both about the story and the level of story-telling. Tyler: Jan, I understand you’ve also written books about teaching in prison. Will you tell us a little about them? Jan: I taught parenting and family courses inside adult female and male facilities for eighteen years. My most popular work is a parenting book for offender parents, now in its third edition. I wrote a prison teacher’s memoir, “Dancing to the Concertina’s Tune.” It’s an honest look at working with felons who were trying to earn an education and make better choices for themselves and their families. I also wrote a young adult novel, “An Inmate’s Daughter,” which is set in Tacoma, Washington and on McNeil Island, the last island prison in the U.S. The prison closed earlier this year. Both books were Washington Reads selections of the state librarian. Tyler: Would you say that you found writing “A Farm in the South Pacific Sea” an easier or more difficult experience, or just different? What was the biggest difference or challenge by comparison? Jan: It was initially difficult for me to write about a character who was a real person. I wanted to wander off into my imagination. Before rewriting “A Farm in the South Pacific Sea” for publication, I wrote about other characters who were real people. That made the rewrite easier. I still prefer making up characters, though every character I create is real to me and most are composites of real people I’ve known. Tyler: What’s next, Jan? Do you have plans for another book? Jan: Plicata Press will release my young adult novel, “Romar Jones Takes a Hike,” in the fall. Romar was reared by his dad and grandmother for thirteen years, and his grandmother alone the next two years after his dad’s death. Shortly after his grandmother dies, his English teacher warns him to pay attention in class or take a hike. Romar opts for the hike, walks out of school and keeps walking, with two goals in mind. Take some of Granny’s ashes to the Oregon coast town where she grew up, and then look for his mother in Washington. He knows she’s in prison. At fifteen and a half, Romar must learn how to survive on his own. Tyler: What made you decide to switch to writing a young adult novel? Jan: I have written several adult novels that await publishing. I had planned to release “Romar Jones Takes a Hike” shortly after the earlier YA novel, “An Inmate’s Daughter” came out. Both stories focus on the struggles kids go through when a parent is incarcerated, but they are very different stories. Romar’s incarcerated mother is still selfish and self-focused. It’s too bad she didn’t read and use “Parenting From A Distance: Your rights and responsibilities,” which is the parenting book for offenders that I wrote in the 1980s. The third edition of that work was released in early 2011. Tyler: Thank you for the opportunity to interview you today, Jan. Before we go, would you tell us about your website and what additional information we can find there about “A Farm in the South Pacific?” Jan: My website is www.janwalker-writer.com. It will soon include more pictures of June and her Tonga story. I will also post other writings including some from my prison teacher’s memoir and updates from my volunteer work with female offenders preparing to release from a reentry prison. Tyler: Thanks again, Jan. Best of luck with “A Farm in the South Pacific Sea” and all your books. Read Review of A Farm in the Pacific
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