'Ewa Beach schoolteacher set for Mainland book tour
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
The drumbeats are growing louder: "God's Photo Album," the inspirational book photographed by students at a local parochial school, is nearly here. People in the publishing industry are saying it could be the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" of this new century.
The book, with narrative by former 'Ewa Beach schoolteacher Shelly Mecum and published by HarperCollins, will arrive in Hawai'i bookstores April 21, 10 days ahead of the national publication date.
Mecum wrote the book based on a 1998 excursion she took with her students at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. Along with their families, the children boarded buses and traveled around O'ahu photographing images they felt represented God in everyday life.
HarperCollins, banking on a huge success for the book, has ordered 75,000 copies for the first printing.
Mecum tomorrow begins a promotional tour to New York and Washington, D.C., the first of two tours sponsored by the Hawai'i Visitors & Convention Bureau. The trip will include a visit with the producers of the "Rosie O'Donnell Show," who have expressed interest in the book.
A second tour is set for May, when Mecum is due to accept an award from the University of San Diego. The tribute, the Autor E. Hughes Award, is a career-achievement award.
And Oprah Winfrey has indicated plans to feature the book on "The Oprah Show." The HVCB has sent an invitation to "Oprah" producers to videotape that segment in Hawai'i.
It's been a whirlwind for Mecum, who last weekend spoke to an audience of more than 2,000 at the Honolulu 2001 convention here sponsored by Hawaiian Islands Ministries. There, she sold the first 150 books to arrive in the Islands. Mecum said a spokesman for Logos Bookstores, which handled the convention sale, reported the copies were snapped up in 15 minutes.
"He said they could have sold 1,000 copies," she said. "They have pages and pages of orders."
The school children who helped bring about the book – conceived as a fund-raiser to stave off the school's closure – will be involved in the "God's Photo Album" Isle launch.
They will appear at the state Legislature April 10 to accept congratulatory resolutions from the House and Senate. The entire school will sing "I Can Fly" from the balcony of the state Capitol. On April 21, 75 children will fly to the Neighbor Islands and be bused from store to store to conduct book signings, with transportation provided by Hawaiian Airlines, Roberts Hawai'i and Waikiki Trolleys.
