The beauty of Makaha and the warmth of its community have often been cast against a reputation of intense localism.

But the stretch of coastline that includes everything from Nanakuli to Ka'ena Point — the Westside — is a place of contrasts.

Homeless camps on gorgeous white sand beaches. Soaring crime in neighborhoods where aloha is a way of life. Poverty amid hard-working, generous people.

It is easily one of the most misunderstood communities in Hawai'i.

Into this complicated landscape walked author Stuart Holmes Coleman, a South Carolina native who moved to the Islands in 1993 to teach. Coleman spent the last four years researching the icons of the Westside — watermen Buffalo Keaulana and his son Brian, singer Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and surfer Rell Sunn — and the result is his new book, "Fierce Heart: The Story of Makaha and the Soul of Hawaiian Surfing," (St. Martin's Press, $24.95).

The book, named in part for the English translation of Makaha, which means fierce in Hawaiian, offers a wide-ranging look at the history, traditions and surfing of the area. But even more than that, "Fierce Heart" is a detailed look at the Keaulana family and its impact on the community. They are the unofficial Westside royalty who hold both community and book together.

Coleman, who authored "Eddie Would Go" in 2002, views his new work as an homage to Makaha and the Keaulanas. In the eyes of Brian Keaulana, a pioneering city lifeguard turned Hollywood stuntman, Coleman saw the soul of Makaha.

"It's a very sympathetic portrait of the community and kind of a tribute to the family," Coleman said. "It's a very positive book."

But the Keaulanas are unhappy with Coleman's portrait of their community. They are so upset that they are threatening to sue him. The Keaulanas won't speak publicly on the subject, not even to hint at what has them so angry, but they hired attorney John S. Carroll.

Coleman broke a verbal agreement with the Keaulana family, Carroll said.

"We tried to work with the publisher to get certain aspects of this thing corrected but weren't able to do so," he said.

The author, who started a statewide book-signing tour yesterday, said none of the Keaulanas have told him exactly what was wrong. Coleman said the squabble has left him heartbroken about his relationship with a family he still respects.

"I think they wanted to have editing privileges but I never agreed to that," Coleman said.

AUTHOR WELCOMED

Coleman, who first visited the Westside during a camping trip to Makua in 1995, said the area has always fascinated him.

"There are larger-than-life characters out there," he said. "The place has so much mystique around it. I wanted to penetrate that mystique and find out what that was about. It was a little difficult."

His first meeting with Brian Keaulana, during a 1999 interview at Makaha Beach, foretold much of what he would discover.

"There were a lot of locals out there and I was this haole from the Mainland," Coleman said. "And Brian was so easygoing and nice and warm and he invites me to a lu'au with his family. It was all 'ukuleles and beer and so much fun."

This was not the Makaha he had been warned about.

"I realized there was a whole other side to this community," Coleman said. "Not only was this a place where traditional Hawaiian culture seemed not only alive but a place where they defined what it meant to be a waterman."

Coleman was already well-versed in Hawai'i's surf scene when he decided to tell the story of Makaha. His biography of Eddie Aikau, the legendary lifeguard who vanished at sea in 1978, introduced him to the insiders of surf culture and was well received by critics and readers.

Coleman, a 44-year-old Mo'ili'ili resident, writes project by project. His works have appeared in a diverse array of publications, from The Washington Post to Salon.com to The Surfer's Journal. He recently became regional coordinator for The Surfrider Foundation. Prior to that, he taught at Punahou, 'Iolani and the East-West Center.

TWO OTHER ICONS

When he started working on "Fierce Heart," Coleman thought he was going to write about the Keaulanas. He was inspired partly by Brian Keaulana, the oldest of Buffalo and Momi Keaulana's five children.

"He has become a real statesman for the community," Coleman said. "He really speaks very eloquently about that culture. He is a fascinating figure. A lot of people have compared him to Duke Kahanamoku."

Coleman said he soon realized that Sunn and Kamakawiwo'ole were such beloved icons for the area — and close to Keaulanas — that they needed to be part of the story. Both died young: Sunn of breast cancer at 47 and Kamakawiwo'ole of complications brought on by morbid obesity at 38. In their short lives, they showcased the true values of Hawaiian culture.

And both considered the Westside their sanctuary.

Sunn's daughter, Jan Sunn-Carreira, said her mother would travel all over the world as a professional surfer but Makaha was always home. The ocean and the people were a tonic for Sunn.

"It was heaven on earth for her," Sunn-Carreira said. "When she saw everywhere else and saw what everywhere else had to offer, she still liked the simplicity of home. It was always magical there. Always."

Sunn-Carreira, 41, lives in Mission Viejo, Calif., where she is raising her children. She still comes back to help run a keiki surf contest her mother started. And she also has close ties to the Keaulanas, which is why she doesn't want to talk about problems they have with Coleman.

"Stuart is a good writer and I appreciate the nice things he said about my mother," she said.

MANY DISAPPOINTED

The book has been a hot topic in the community for months. Kathy Terada, who moved to Wai'anae from 'Aina Haina in 1977, said many of those who have read advance copies of the book have come away disappointed. The stories of its main characters may be legendary, but they've been told before, she said.

"This was an opportunity for someone to come out and maybe uncover things that are not well known and the positive side of living here," Terada said. "The successes in people's lives."

A nurse practitioner at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center since she moved to the area, Terada has seen the best and the worst of the Westside. Its isolation, protected by raw natural beauty, has fostered close ties in a community where it seems everyone knows everyone else, she said.

"I know the book talks about the crime and drugs and violence and things like that, but there is much more," said Terada, a 56-year-old mother of two. "What I see in my work and what I see in my friendships is that there is a real strength in people out here."

As he interviewed people on the Westside, Coleman often heard similar descriptions and concluded that the true power of the Westside is the ability of its residents to care for each other.

Such a reality can be difficult for outsiders to fully grasp, especially if they are from Honolulu, where the bonds of family are stretched thin, Coleman said.

"Everybody I talked to down there talks about what a magical place it is," he said. "I think it is partly because here is a place where the people are so close to the land. It hasn't been developed. And there is still that primal connection to the land and the sky and the sea."