When he died, the state capitol was the only place suitable for his memorial service.

He remains one of a handful of figures in Hawai'i history who are routinely identified by only a first name.

In the past few years, his fame has spread to the Mainland.

And one of his albums was the first Island collection to be certified platinum (1 million sold).

Yet the life story of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, the Islands' beloved "Iz," has never been told in book form, until now.

The book is "Iz: The Voice of a Nation," by Rick Carroll, with a foreword by Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole and many rarely seen or never-before-published photographs. It's planned for publication next spring.

Publisher Benjamin "Buddy" Bess made a first public announcement about the new book at a meeting of Borders Books & Music buyers in California yesterday.

It will be the biggest undertaking to date for Bess Press, a company better known for Pacific-themed textbooks and light-hearted works such as "The Spam Cookbook" and "Pidgin to Da Max" (which is coming back in a new edition for its 25th birthday in December, by the way).

A first run of 25,000 and a West Coast author tour is planned — virtually unheard-of for an Island publisher.

Six years ago, Carroll, a former Hawai'i resident, sat down on the beach at Ka'a'awa during a visit here and began to write the biography. But a short time later, he was diagnosed with cancer and set the project aside to give his all to regaining his health. Now, feeling better, Carroll is working with Bess Press and Kamakawiwo'ole's widow, Marlene, to bring the partly finished manuscript to life.

When Carroll presented the "Iz" proposal to Bess — who previously published the author's "Spooky Tales" series — the publisher liked the approach, which linked the entertainer's biography to the Islands' history. But he was cautious, and suggested a small-format gift book.

Then Carroll came into town a short while ago and met with Marlene Kamakawiwo'ole. After the two had talked for hours, Bess knew he had to go all out for the book.

"It's Iz," he said, summing up the power of this extraordinary character.

For Carroll, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole was more than an entertainer. He knew this long before the singer separated from the Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau and started a wildly successful solo career under the wing of Jon DeMello and Mountain Apple records.

"I met Israel in 1983, at the Ranch House in 'Aina Haina, which he called 'Ana heima,' a play on the name of the California town — and knew he was destined to become somebody beyond Hawai'i's shores," Carroll said, in an interview by e-mail from his North Carolina home.

"It was his word play and vocabulary that caught my ear ... (It was) his wit — so sharp, fast, edgy — and his politics. He was pushing even then, and I loved it."

Carroll had been a reporter in San Francisco during the 1960s and '70s, and his altered political consciousness responded to Iz's occasional riffs on Hawaiian affairs.

"I applauded any small show of force by oppressed people, especially Hawaiians," Carroll recalled, "and the only time I saw a raised fist those days came from a hulking Hawaiian 'ukulele player who sang like a choir boy in a fundamentalist Christian church."

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.