Today we'll talk about a book that didn't get written. It would have been called "The Haole Who Learned Hawaiian," and it was to be about Dwayne Nakila Steele, who died Wednesday of cancer at age 71. If ever there there was a man who died too soon, it was Nakila.

Not that he didn't accomplish more than most people do in two lifetimes. And he did it graciously, in an unassuming way that set a standard for human decency.

Here was a Midwest haole who went to work for a small, kama'aina paving company, Grace Brothers, and built it into one of the 10 largest construction firms in the Pacific. Nakila built freeways in Hawai'i and the airport in American Samoa. He worked in Midway and Guam. Everywhere, he made friends as well as money.

One of those friends along the way was the blind Hawaiian troubadour, Johnny Almeida, who imbued him with the magic of Hawaiian music and the music in Hawaiian language. This slept in Nakila's bones while he became a millionaire. When other successful businessmen retire, he went back to school to learn Hawaiian.

There were so few Hawaiian textbooks that he had to copy his at Kinko's. After learning the language, he discovered there were hardly any books published in Hawaiian. So he went to work publishing books in Hawaiian. Some people call this behavior philanthropy. To Nakila it was fun. I think he felt guilty for having so much fun. That's why he was reluctant to take credit.

Part of the fun was turning himself into a serious scholar, historian and linguist. You never saw such creative philanthropy. It took him in all directions.

Nakila went to the Mission Houses Museum library in search of manuscripts in Hawaiian. There, he found the journal of the Rev. Samuel Kekela, missionary to the Marquesas. Then he went to the Marquesas with archaeologist Barry Rolett to check out those islands. Supporting Rolett got Nakila interested in the landmark digs that Rolett and Tianlong Jiao were doing in China.

That took Nakila to China, where he contributed to the discovery of the origins of ancestral Polynesians. Talk about having fun. Nakila recognized the talent of Israel Kamakawiwo'ole before he became famous, and sponsored Iz's first CD to get him started. The rest is history.

I met Nakila at First Hawaiian Bank where I was depositing a paycheck and he was on the board of directors. He wanted information about Hawaiians in the Confederate army during the Civil War. I said to myself, "Who is this guy?"

The more I got to know him, the better I liked him. One day he said, "Let's go to the Marquesas and find Kekela's descendants." Always looking for something to write about, I said, "When do we start?"

That resulted in the first book to be published simultaneously in Hawaiian, Marquesan and English.

My most precious memories of Nakila include sitting with him and Oz Stender in Kohala above Pololu Valley while Kindy Sproat and Nakila discussed the kaona, hidden meaning, in Hawaiian songs of the sea, and listening to Nakila sing songs in Hawaiian while he strummed his guitar for descendants of the Rev. Kekela in the Marquesas.

Not many people have the knowledge or the talent to do all these things. But he was so shy, he seldom sang or played his guitar. That's why I was pleased by his excitement about writing his book. We were just getting started when the cancer got too bad. Our next trip was going to be around the world on the trail of King Kalakaua.

Now there is no historian friend to make that trip with.

There must be many people in Hawai'i who feel lonely for the same reason I do today. The death of a person like Nakila is a monumental loss to our community.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.