Whether on two feet or two wheels, businessman, marketing executive and author David Cheever regarded the world around him with a perspective grounded in practical experience and quickened by entrepreneurial spirit.

Cheever died June 23 at the age of 78.

Cheever wrote the popular Star-Advertiser monthly column “Keep Hawaii Hawaii,” which provided readers with an entertaining and informative exploration of Honolulu’s unique architecture.

“He was an entrepreneur in every sense of the word,” said son John Cheever. “He had a project-filled life. He was always moving on from one project to the next.”

Cheever was born in Brockton, Mass., and graduated from Kimball Union Academy in Meridan, N.H., and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

He arrived in Hawaii in 1969 and found work at an advertising agency. Later, he spent seven years as a vice president of marketing for Bank of Hawaii before striking out on his own with David Cheever Marketing.

In 1982, Cheever joined his wife, Cindy, and daughter Jill Wheatman in founding The Bike Way on Kapiolani Boulevard (later moving to Ward Avenue). At its peak, the popular bicycle shop boasted $1 million in annual sales.

The shop, which closed in 1997, had special resonance to Cheever, a lifelong bicycle enthusiast who enjoyed spending vacations cycling in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and the nation’s capital.

Cheever often said that he enjoyed the sort of direct engagement with his environment that cycling and walking allowed. In fact, he once endeavored to walk, run or bike every public road on Oahu. He managed to cover the area between Hawaii Kai and Pearl City before suspending his project.

Nonetheless, Cheever’s eye for his surroundings manifested in a number of unique projects, including the 2003 book “Pohaku: The Art and Architecture of Stonework in Hawaii,” which he co-wrote with his son, Scott. The book was inspired by a stone wall on Pacific Heights Road that Cheever, who once headed the local American Institute of Architects office, often passed.

“Pohaku” was one of seven nonfiction books that Cheever wrote. He also used his extensive knowledge of Hawaii sites to write a series of “Daytrips Hawaii” books.

In 2005, Cheever, son Scott, and philanthropist and preservationist Nancy Bannick collaborated on “A Close Call: Saving Honolulu’s Chinatown,” which chronicled the history of Chinatown and the ongoing efforts to preserve it.

Cheever shared his entrepreneurial passion with each of his children. In addition to running the bike shop with his wife and daughter and co-writing books with Scott, he also worked with his son John’s microlending nonprofit organization.

Cheever was active in several professional and civic groups.

He was a founding member of the Hawaii Architectural Foundation, served as interim director of the Outdoor Circle and the Mission Houses Museum, and sat on the board of the Historic Hawaii Foundation. He also was a docent at the Manoa Heritage Center.

Cheever’s final book, “Traveler,” released in 2013, was a fictional work about a teenager who runs away from home on a 1980 Schwinn Traveler bicycle.

In an interview with ThinkTech’s Jay Fidell that year, Cheever talked about the spirit of freedom that laid at the heart of both his novel and his ambling life.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Cheever said. “I can go anywhere, wherever I want. That’s an immense satisfaction.”

In the end, Cheever died as he lived — on his own terms. John Cheever said his father rode his bicycle to a park after meeting friends at the Pacific Club. There he drank some coffee, read the newspaper and dozed off for one final, peaceful nap. Doctors said he died of natural causes.

IN MONDAY’S EDITION

The vital statistics list of marriages and births, and the listing of Hawaii congressional delegates’ votes will appear in the Monday edition.