"Judge Sam King: A Memoir" is a welcome final visit with one of modern Hawaii’s greatest minds and finest sons.

A proud part-Hawaiian, King’s life was long in years — 94 — and distinction.

He was a standout student at Punahou and Yale, a Navy interpreter in post-bomb Hiroshima, a power in territorial politics as the son of a governor, a candidate for governor himself, co-author of the "Broken Trust" essay that exposed Bishop Estate corruption, and a state and federal judge for five decades who co-founded Hawaii’s Family Court and presided over landmark cases on organized crime, native rights, land reform, the H-3, Kahoolawe, Vietnam protests and the Palmyra murders.

Unlike many autobiographical works that seek to justify the author’s life in punishing detail, this slim volume of 137 pages reads like a talk-story session with the judge in his book-lined chambers.

King lived comfortably in his own skin and had no need to justify himself. He valued brevity and had a knack for using few words to say all that needed to be said.

Veteran journalists Jerry Burris and Ken Kobayashi wrote the book mostly from interviews with King before his death in 2010, and they perfectly caught his voice, generous nature and good humor.

King was often described as a humble man, but perhaps a better word is unassuming. He knew he was usually the most important person in the room except when his wife, Anne, was present, but didn’t need a lot of deference.

King was guided by fairness and humanity, not politics and ideology, seeking outcomes that combined the Hawaiian concept of pono — right — with Yankee common sense.

Though a Republican, as a lawyer he defended leftists Alan and Marion Sanders against charges of un-American activities that he thought were trumped up.

As a judge, he threw out evidence against crime boss Earl Kim that authorities had obtained using a telescope.

"The fact that peeping toms abound does not license the government to follow suit," King wrote in a ruling that one wishes the NSA had consulted.

He was often called to hear cases on the mainland and would visit federal prisons to make sure Hawaii convicts he’d sent there were being treated right.

King faced adversity with humor, commenting when he was defeated for governor by John Burns in 1970: "I got lucky. I lost."

Late in the book, King wrote, "I’ve enjoyed being a judge but I sometimes wonder what I’ve accomplished. The law is a marvelous thing, but we don’t get very far with statutes that try to alter human nature."

What he accomplished was keeping honest thought alive for a lifetime and beyond.

The hardcover book by Watermark Publishing is available from Amazon.com for $17.06 and also from local bookstores.

———
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.