“You know me as the editor of the Akahele, but what you may not know is that for many years I have also worked as a freelance writer. Among other things, I published three children’s books with Scholastic, and sold four short stories to Highlights for Children. I also spent a lot of time writing educational materials designed to be used in literacy programs. So, children, words and literacy are near and dear to me.
My eldest daughter, Kerry, is also a writer. She writes urban fantasy, and until last December had never tried writing for children. But last December Kerry was at my house when the most recent issue of the Akahele arrived. Jeff Livingston had written an incredible update on the restoration work of the Merci Boxcar. Kerry asked me to tell her again the story of the Merci Boxcar, which, of course, also entails the telling of the Friendship Train and the Gratitude Train and the 49 boxcars which were sent by France to America.
When I finished telling her the story, her eyes grew wide and she said, ‘Mom, we have to write a children’s book!’ I gulped, took a deep breath, remembered that I had recently told myself I wouldn’t be writing any more children’s books, not at my age. And I said, ‘Yes!’
And so, The Unforgettable Boxcar, a non-fiction children’s book, was born.”
— Janet Lorimer
November/December 2024 Akahele I Ke Ka`aahi
Meet the Team
Janet Lorimer
Janet has been writing professionally for over 40 years. Her first sale was a story made to Highlights for Children magazine, and she has continued to write both short stories and novels for children, as well as publishing over 60 high interest/low reading level books used in literacy and English-As-A-Second-Language classes. Thirty years ago, she was appointed the editor for the Hawaiian Railway Society’s newsletter, Akahele I Ke Ka`aahi, and she’s been producing it ever since. It continues to be one of her favorite things to do.
Kerry Lorimer
After a summer driving Disneyland’s Monorail, Kerry worked at the Hawaiian Railway Society as a narrator and flagman, leaping off moving trains between spiels and racing into intersections to stop the flow of traffic so the train could cross. Nine lives later, she became hooked on writing when her first article was published in the magazine for the American Judo and Jujitsu Federation, Kiai Echo. A proud member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), she writes about snarky vampires under the pseudonym Scarlet Kay. The Unforgettable Boxcar is her first middle-grade book.