Edwin Tanji is the most insightful writer I ever read. Maui and The Maui News cannot begin to fully appreciate what we have been blessed with over the years.
His is the kind of thoughtful, well-researched writing that stays with us for our entire lives. At least that is true for those of us who read his "Haku Mo'olelo" consistently every week. (Note to publisher: Publish a volume of "Haku Mo'olelo." You would do Maui a great service.)
Edwin Tanji blessed us with several columns to be published after his passing. I did not want to express my feelings until his last was printed, which was Sept. 28. And what a column it was, wrapping up once and for all his thoughts about the mystery of living and dying, the wonderment we all experience (or will experience) about what comes after the end of life as we know it. He considered the contest between science and religion, or reason and faith. He seemed to understand the uncertainty of science, always open to new information, and he seemed to almost disdain the alleged legitimacy of blind faith and all of the consequences flowing from that way of thinking. And yet, he knows that he cannot know for certain whether there is a next phase of existence or not. He referred to the ironic weight of uncertainty borne by reason.
Thus, as always, he goes forward with an open mind.
Rick Tolin
Kihei
