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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, November 23, 2008

What I'm reading: Kelvin Taketa, President & CEO, Hawaii Community Foundation

By Christine Thomas
Special to the Advertiser

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Kelvin Taketa, President & CEO, Hawaii Community Foundation.

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Q. What are you reading?

A. "The River Why" by David James Duncan. I'm also reading "Blessed Unrest" by Paul Hawken and just finished "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink. Those are the three things on my night table, along with a bunch of magazines and other stuff.

Q. What do you like about them?

A. "The River Why" is written by an author that I love, who has since become a really close friend of mine. He lives in Missoula, Mont. and wrote two really great fiction books; this is the first and the other is called "The Brothers K." They're books about fly-fishing, baseball and life. ... "A Whole New Mind" is a must-read. Pink writes about the fact that in the 21st century we're still educating kids for the 20th century. ... It's become one of the books that the foundation is using as a jumping-off point to launch a new initiative with a number of island private schools. ... And "Blessed Unrest" is a really great book ... about some of the global trends around global warming or environmental issues, hunger, economic disparities between countries and people within countries.

Q. Does their glimpse into the essence of living, and the future of societies and learning spark ideas about investing in people and solutions for our community?

A. There's a lot of commentary or case studies available online that I read a lot, and that's what I see as more specific to my work. I get a lot out of those things, but when I read books it's for two reasons. One is I love to read fiction; I was an English major so I love to read good writing. But I also read books like "Blessed Unrest" and "A Whole New Mind" because they provide a larger framework for how we might think of the world we live and work in. It's not specific to my work, but it gives me context and that's very important.