Pokerwinski - Mango rash: coming of age in the land of frangipani and Fanta

In the turbulent 1960s Pokerwinski and her family move to American Samoa just as the author is between girlhood and womanhood, and just as the territory is balanced between Samoan and American cultures. Part travelogue, part family drama, part coming-of-age story, Pokerwinski deftly explores our fascination with teenage angst and exotic locations. Here, in loving, lush, and particular detail, is a welcoming yet troubled paradise for the reader to explore. As the Samoans would say, Mango Rash is matagofie beautiful.

~ Sue William Silverman, author of The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew

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MANGO RASH is a beautifully written coming-of-age story, where friendship and humour travel the same sun bleached pathways as loss and tragedy, through the heart and mind of young teenager Nancy, whose loving portrayal of tropical Samoa and its people will stay with you long after you turn the last frangipani scented page.

~ Lene Fogelberg, author of The Wall Street Journal bestselling memoir Beautiful Affliction

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Nan Sanders Pokerwinski tells her memories of her year in Samoa fifty-some years ago with a light narrative touch, soft humor, and a poets eye for detail the oceans brackish bouquet. She has a novelists skill for making her characters real and individual. Her memoir is a travelogue not just to Samoa but also into a young girls mind as she toys with the edges of adulthood, with Margaret Mead as her travel guide. Yes, this is young Nancy Sanderslate of Stillwater, Oklahomacoming of age in Samoa.

~ John Enright, author of the Detective Apelu Soifua Jungle Beat Mystery series

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A coming-of-age journey that feels both exotic and deeply relatable MANGO RASH is warm, witty, and poignant, rendered with lyrical language and keen insight.

~ Jenny Feldon, author of Karma Gone Bad: How I Learned to Love Mangos, Bollywood and Water Buffalo

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Neither miles, nor years, can erode the lasting sights, textures, and life lessons of the South Pacific, in Nan Sanders Pokerwinskis keenly aware teenage voice. Amidst the coconut milk, aitu spirits, and green mangoes, she learns The Samoan way, the spirit of pitching in, the island notion that obligation to others is not a burden at all but rather a mark of respect and devotion. There is poetry here, and insight, and postcard perfect beaches if you dare to find them. Even on the brightest day, sunlight barely penetrated the canopy. And even in the darkest moments, Nans fresh outlook penetrates the dense jungle of new experiences, toward the light of real, if hard won, wisdom.

~ Mardi Jo Link, author of Bootstrapper and TheDrummond Girls

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In Mango Rash, an Oklahoma teenager arrives in an unfamiliar and often contradictory paradise, sixties Samoa, and faces a year of experiences that range from the typical questions of how to make friends (and find boyfriends!) to the life-changing challenges of catastrophic weather, drownings, and unexpected illness. Sanders Pokerwinski writes authentically of these tests, of her growing love for the country and its people, and of her rising consciousness of racism, bigotry, and cultural difference. This memoir explores a rare time in a rare country, a rare time in a young life, and in the light of Samoas timeless sun, an even rarer discovery: lifes transience, even in so beautiful a place as paradise.

~ Anne-Marie Oomen, author of three memoirs, including Love, Sex and 4-H (Next Generation Indie Award for Memoir); editor ELEMENTAL: A Collection of Michigan Nonfiction (Michigan Notable Book 2019)

USA

Behler Publications

Mango Rash

A Behler Publications Book

Copyright (c) 2020 by Nan Sanders Pokerwinski

Cover design by Yvonne Parks - www.pearcreative.ca

Map by Brenda Huckins Bonter

Some names have been changed to protect their privacy.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

FIRST PRINTING

ISBN 13: 9781941887066

e-book ISBN 9781941887073

Published by Behler Publications, LLC, USA

www.behlerpublications.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

Sources of Samoan proverbs

Brown, Rev. George (1914) Proverbs, Phrases, and Similes of the Samoans. Report of the Fourteenth Meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science., edited by T. S. Hall. Sydney, Australia.

Schultz, E. (1950) Proverbial Expressions of the Samoans. Translated into English by Brother Herman. The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Volume 59 (2): 112-134. Auckland, New Zealand.

Happy Talk music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

1942 Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.

All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission

I GOT YOU BABE

Words and Music by SONNY BONO

Copyright 1965 (Renewed) COTILLION MUSIC, INC. and CHRIS-MARC MUSIC

All Rights Administered by COTILLION MUSIC, INC.

All Rights Reserved

Used By Permission of ALFRED MUSIC

Please Let Me Wonder

Words and Music by Brian Wilson and Mike Love

Copyright 1965 IRVING MUSIC, INC.

Copyright Renewed

All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC

Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars (Corcovado)

English Words by Gene Lees

Original Words and Music by Antonio Carlos Jobim

Copyright 1962, 1964 ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM

Copyright Renewed

All Rights for English Speaking Countries Controlled and Administered by SONGS OF UNIVERSAL, INC.

All Rights Reserved Used by Permission

Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard LLC

Morton, Julia F. (2013). Fruits of Warm Climates. Echo Point Books & Media

Reprinted by Permission of University of Miami.

Sutter, Frederic Koehler (1984) Amerika Samoa: An Anthropological Photo Essay. Honolulu, Hawa'ii. University of Hawai'i Press.

Reprinted by Permission of University of Hawai'i Press

Calkins, Fay G. (1962) My Samoan Chief. Honolulu, Hawai'i. University of Hawai'i Press.

Reprinted by Permission of University of Hawai'i Press

To Neva and Harold,

who dreamed

and dared

and encouraged me to do the same

As I was writing the story that would become this book, I kept asking myself, Is this my story to tell? Im not Samoan. I lived in American Samoa for less than a year. What right do I have to identify myself with that place and its culture?

The answer came down to this: Something about that place, that culture, and the experiences I had during those eleven months of my adolescence affected me so deeply that decades later, the memories are still steeped in emotion. Those memories, and the story of how they came to matter so much, are indeed mine to share.

Memories, of course, are notoriously shadowy, slippery things, and writing about events that happened more than fifty years ago is tricky. When possible, I have sought to corroborate my memories with letters, diary entries, photographs, personal communications, historical information, and other resources. It was reassuring that, while these sources filled in some blanks, they did not contradict my recollections.