A biographer could write volumes about Doc Shay's life and still not get it all in.

Good thing Doc Shay wrote her own book.

Sharon "Shay" Bintliff is medical director of the emergency department at Hale Ho'ola Hamakua Hospital on the Big Island. She was the first female chair of a clinical department at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine and was director of the Birth Defects Center at Kapi'olani Medical Center. She is also a senior surfer, a paddler who has made the Moloka'i crossing dozens of times, a gay pride advocate, a stand-up comedian, friend to all and now, published poet.

"Growing up in Texas where children, especially a small girl, had no voice was always a mystery to me," Bintliff wrote in the introduction to her book. "My great aunt told me to find my voice in writing."

In this collection of poems, Bintliff finds the voice to talk about difficult things, things that often escape words.

Her book "Soular Energy" is dedicated to her only granddaughter, Ileiana Bintliff, who died in 2005 after a four-year battle with cancer. She was only 11.

BOOKS, TOYS, STUFFED ANIMALS

ARE ALL OVER THE HOSPITAL BED

Do they truly comfort, or tell her magic stories through the nights? What would they say to a child with cancer?

"These poems are very personal and autobiographical and are shared with sensitivity, energy and the zest for life I so value," Bintliff said of the collection. "I think of Ileiana and all that her life taught me ... Yesterday seems less painful, and I am unafraid of tomorrow."

Like Bintliff, the poems are joyful, hopeful and unflinchingly honest.

In one titled "Growing old sucks," Bintliff writes:

LEFT ON SHORE TO WATCH OTHERS

Do what I did best ...

Feeling totally disconnected to all that has mattered all these years.

Bintliff has started doing readings and book signings on the Neighbor Islands and sending her book to friends.

"My friend Patch Adams left me a phone message that I will keep forever on my cell phone basically saying, 'I know that losing Ileiana is the most painful experience of your life ... how brave of you to begin to heal by sharing the beauty of your poetry with others ... ' "

Bintliff will be in Honolulu for two book signings this weekend. The first is Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Native Books/Na Mea Hawai'i at Ward Warehouse. On Sunday she'll be at Borders, Ward Center, at 2 p.m. All proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society's Camp Anuenue, the summer camp for children with cancer that Ileiana loved so much.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.