Glen Grant, looking through the window of his store, the Haunt, in a 2001 photo.

Glen Grant (born February 23, 1947-died June 19, 2003) was a Hawaiian historian, author and folklorist. He was primarily known for his Obake Files, a collection of articles and stories regarding native and imported folktales and mythology in Hawaii. Grant was also the author of the Chicken Skin series of ghost story anthologies, as well as host of the long-running radio show of the same name. February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ... State nickname: The Aloha State Other U.S. States Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Governor Linda Lingle Official languages Hawaiian and English Area 28,337 km² (43rd)  - Land 16,649 km²  - Water 11,672 km² (41. ... Generally speaking, a historian is a person who studies history. ... The word author has several meanings: The author of a book, story, article or the like, is the person who has written it (or is writing it). ... Folkloristics is the formal academic study of folklore and mythology. ... Folklore in Hawaii in modern times is a mixture of various aspects of Hawaiian mythology and various urban legends that have been passed on regarding various places in the Hawaiian islands. ... Hawaiian mythology is a variant of a more general Polynesian mythology. ... Radio broadcasts have been a popular entertainment since the 1910s though popularity has declined some since television became widespread. ...

In 1979 he won the University of Hawaii (UH) Board of Regents Medal for Teaching Excellence for his work in Asian-American and Hawaiian studies. In 1995 the Honolulu City Council honored him as one of Hawaii's Living Treasures of Multiculturalism. 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Jean Charlots mural called Commencement is featured at Bachman Hall, the administrative center of the University of Hawai`i System. ... A Medal can mean three things: a wearable medal awarded by a government for services to a country (such as Armed force service); strictly speaking this only refers to a medal of coin-like appearance, but informally the word also refers to an Order (decoration); a table medal awarded by... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Honolulu as seen from the International Space Station Honolulu is the largest city and the capital of the U.S. state of Hawai‘i. ... A city council is the most common style of legislative government in a city or town. ... Multiculturalism or cultural pluralism is a policy, ideal, or reality that emphasizes the unique characteristics of different cultures in the world, especially as they relate to one another in immigrant receiving nations. ...

Life

Grant was born and raised in the Los Angeles suburb of Culver City, the son of Hollywood special effects wizard Cliff Grant, who worked on such films as Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz and Forbidden Planet. The elder Grant helped create the extraterrestrial robot Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still and Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet. Robby eventually became a member of the Grant household, where the younger Grant said he would see the robot, stashed in the family garage, on a daily basis. Though the robot eventually ended up in a museum, Grant was said to have "often affectionately remembered Robby the Robot as his brother." [1] (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jun/20/ln/ln06a.html) Griffith Observatory and the Downtown Los Angeles skyline. ... Culver City sign, at the northeast corner of the Sepulveda Boulevard and Centinela Avenue intersection, near the 405 and the 90 freeway interchange. ... For other uses, see Hollywood (disambiguation) Greetings from Hollywood Hollywood is a district of the City of Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., that runs from about Vermont Avenue on the east to just beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard above Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevards on the west; the north to... Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as depicting travel to other star systems. ... Gone With the Wind was an instant success. ... The main title card from the opening credits of MGMs The Wizard of Oz. ... A film poster for Forbidden Planet This article is about the movie Forbidden Planet. ... Extraterrestrial, as an adjective, refers to something that originates, occurs, or is located outside Earth or its atmosphere. ... A humanoid robot playing the trumpet In practical usage, a robot is a mechanical device which performs automated tasks, either according to direct human supervision, a pre-defined program or, a set of general guidelines, using artificial intelligence techniques. ... Film poster for The Day the Earth Stood Still The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 science fiction film which tells the story of a humanoid spaceman who comes to Earth to convince its leaders to learn how to live in peace. ... A film poster for Forbidden Planet showing Robby. ... A film poster for Forbidden Planet This article is about the movie Forbidden Planet. ...

Grant recieved a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and on an invitation from friend and UH professor Dennis Ogawa, took a trip to Hawaii in 1970. He made the move permanent the following year, earning a master's degree in education in 1974 and a doctorate in American studies in 1982. He taught history, American studies and political science for more than 30 years in the UH school system and Hawaii Tokai International College, where he was a vice chancellor until the time of his death.-1... The University of California, Los Angeles, popularly known as UCLA, is a public, coeducational university situated in the neighborhood of Westwood within the city of Los Angeles. ... 1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate or graduate course of one to three years in duration. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... American studies is a distinct interdisciplinary field that promotes a broad humanistic understanding of American culture past and present. ... 1982 is a number and represents a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar Events January-February January 6 - William Bonin is convicted of being the freeway killer. January 8 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions January 11 - Mark Thatcher, son of the British... Niccolò Machiavelli, ca 1500, became the key figure in realistic political theory, crucial to political science Political Science is the systematic study of the allocation and transfer of power in decision making. ...

Grant was popular instructor, known for a theatrical, lively style of teaching, in which he would wear historical costumes, use stage settings and deliver several lectures in character. This was especially so when he covered such subjects as American studies or classes on Japanese-American experiences. [2] (http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/20/features/story2.html) For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed... Serving from 1999 to 2003, Army General Eric Shinseki of Hawaii became the first Asian American military chief of staff. ...

As Grant's time in Hawaii grew, in addition to studying the cultures and geography of Hawaii and its inhabitants, he began to grow interested in the myths and legends both already present and brought in by other cultures. This, combined with a childhood love of ghost stories, led him to create what he would later call the Obake Files (the word obake being a Japanese word for ghost absorbed into Hawaiian Pidgin). Yōkai (Often spelled Youkai, Japanese: 妖怪) (apparitions, spirits or demons) are class of creatures in Japanese folklore ranging from the evil oni to the mischievous kitsune. ... Hawaiian Pidgin English, also known as Hawaiian Creole English or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based on English that is widely used by residents of Hawai‘i. ...

The Obake Files

Grant's Obake Files work can be divided into two parts: the scholarly Obake Files, and the entertainment-based Chicken Skin series.

The Obake Files series

The Obake files (documented in his books Obake Files, Secret Obake Casebook, and Obake: Ghost Stories in Hawaii) drew extensively from his interviews with residents and newspaper clippings of events that had been reported in Hawaii. He noted the correlation between some of these legends to ones from other nations, and that as the native Hawaiian population declined, more spirits and legends (such as the Japanese kappa) from abroad would be seen in the islands than native ones (such as Nightmarchers).-1... Kappa (河童) are mythical creatures, water imps found in Japanese folklore. ... In Polynesian mythology, specifically Hawaii, Nightmarchers are the ghosts of ancient Hawaiian warriors. ...

The Chicken Skin series

Unlike the Obake Files, Grant's sense of the theatrical oftentimes led him to weave himself (and sometimes friends and colleagues) into the stories directly. For these stories he called them The Chickenskin Files (named after "chicken skin", the Hawaiian Pidgin term for goose bumps). These books often portrayed Grant as a professor somewhere between his normal self and Indiana Jones, setting out to see the mysteries of Hawaii and other places (Japan was the setting of one story) where legends had been imported to the island. Hawaiian Pidgin English, also known as Hawaiian Creole English or simply Pidgin, is a creole language based on English that is widely used by residents of Hawai‘i. ... Goose bumps, also called goose pimples, goose flesh, or cutis anserina, are the bumps on a persons skin at the base of body hairs (typically on the forearm), which involuntarily develop when a person is cold, afraid, or experiences other strong emotions. ... Indiana Jones wax figure at Madame Tussauds Indiana Jones is a bullwhip-toting archaeologist with an overdeveloped fear of snakes, played by Harrison Ford in a series of films by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. ...

The Chicken Skin radio show

Due to the popularity of his works, he soon earned a two-hour spot on local radio for his storytelling. Though the show had been named after the latter series, it was tailored mostly after the Obake Files in general, with investigations and interviews with residents and other experts on Hawaiian legends, some discussion of legends abroad and in other parts of the U.S., with the last half-hour of the show dedicated to a Chicken Skin-style story, usually featuring local voice talent or show staff members in roles.

Though the show was mostly scripted, there were moments of spontenaity. In a 1981 broadcast, Grant dismissed as rumor the May 19, 1959 Honolulu Advertiser report of a mujina seen in Hawaii. In that article, Advertiser reporter Bob Krauss wrote about a woman's encounter with the Japanese mythical creature at the Waialae Drive-In Theatre in Kahala. A caller immediately phoned him on the air, identifying herself as the witness in the article. She then gave more details on the event, including the previously unreported detail that the mujina in question had red hair.[3] (http://www.geocities.com/area51/hollow/6166/faceless.html) As years passed, on the show Grant himself later reported on a number of other mujina sightings in Hawaii, from Ewa Beach to Hilo. 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Honolulu Advertiser is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of Hawaii and one of the largest newspapers in the United States. ... The mujina, in a scene from the anime Inu Yasha. ... A legendary creature is a mythical or fantastic creature (often known as fabulous creatures in historical literature). ... This page is about witnesses in law courts. ... For the district in Nauru, see Ewa (Nauru). ... Hilo is the largest town on the island of Hawai‘i, and the county seat of Hawai‘i County, Hawai‘i. ...

In addition to his radio work on Chicken Skin radio, he occasionally reported for National Public Radio as a cultural expert on Hawaiian legends. NPR logo For other meanings of NPR see NPR (disambiguation) National Public Radio (NPR) is a private, not-for-profit corporation that sells programming to member radio stations; together they are a loosely organized public radio network in the United States. ...

Other Works

In addition to his Obake Files, grant wrote numerous other books on Hawaii, its geography and its culture, such as his From Skies of Paradise series on Oahu and the Big Island; Waikiki Yesteryear, a book on the history of the famed Honolulu district; Honolulu Mysteries, a series of detective novels based in 1930s and 40s-era Oahu; and Onipa'a: Five Days in the History of the Hawaiian Nation, a book on the history of the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Island of O‘ahu. ... Image of Hawai‘i (island) taken by NASA. The Island of Hawai‘i is the largest of the Hawaiian Islands. ... Waikīkī is a neighborhood of Honolulu, in the City and County of Honolulu, on the south shore of the Island of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. ... Events and trends Technology Jet engine invented Science Nuclear fission discovered by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann Pluto, the ninth planet from the Sun, is discovered by Clyde Tombaugh British biologist Arthur Tansley coins term ecosystem War, peace and politics Socialists proclaim The death of Capitalism Rise to... Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the V1 flying bomb and the first ballistic missile, the... Princess Victoria Ka‘iulani, a member of the Kalakaua Dynasty, was in line to become Queen of Hawai‘i when her kingdom was overthrown by local American businessmen with the aid of the United States Marine Corps The Kingdom of Hawai‘i was established in 1810 upon the unification of...

He also co-wrote a biography on Hawaiian-born astronaut Ellison Onizuka. Sir Thomas Malory wrote the most famous fictional biography of the Middle Ages with Le Morte dArthur about the life of King Arthur. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... Ellison Shoji Onizuka (June 24, 1946 - January 28, 1986) was an American astronaut from Hawaii who died during the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, where he was serving as mission specialist on mission STS-51-L. Onizuka received a Bachelors degree in aerospace engineering in June 1969, and...

Later Years

In his later years, Grant opened a cafe in the Moilili district of Honolulu called The Haunt. The cafe, an odd collection of B-Film memorabilia, books on folklore and mythology, and various other items from the occult to comics, was created as a home for "the creative and offbeat." [4] (http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/20/features/story2.html) The Haunt would later be expanded with the addition of an upstairs seance room, designed in the idea of 1800s-era American rooms of the kind. A séance (SAY-ahnce) is, on its most basic level, an attempt to communicate with the dead. ... Events and Trends Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars (1803 - 1815). ...

In addition to the Haunt, Grant and volunteers started the Honolulu Ghost Walks, tours of local places in Hawaii tied in to ancient mythology and current folklore. He also started "Obake Night" at the local Moilili Festival, in order to continue the tradition of storytelling with groups.

On June 19, 2003, he passed away from cancer. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Kaena Point on the far western edge of Oahu. Some have said this to be the ideal resting place for Grant, as Hawaiian mythology places Kaena Point as the bridge between the worlds of the living and the dead. Cremation is the practice of disposing of a corpse by burning. ...

External References

• Glen Grant was teacher, storyteller (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2003/Jun/20/ln/ln06a.html), Honolulu Advertiser, June 20, 2003
• Storyteller upheld spirit of Moiliili (http://starbulletin.com/2003/06/20/features/story2.html) Honolulu Star-Bulletin, June 20, 2003
• In Memoriam: Glen Grant (http://www.mutualpublishing.com/news3.html) - memorial page from Mutual Publishing Co, Grant's longtime publisher
• Glen Grant is Gone (http://www.hawaiistories.com/archives/004968.shtml) - rememberance board about the late folklorist
• KWAIDAN: the home page of restless spirits (http://www.geocities.com/area51/hollow/6166/) - a shrine page to the late Glen Grant