FOCUS: Meet Pake Zane, The Antique Adventurer
Editor’s Note: FOCUS is a multimedia series that highlights the diversity and depth of our community through interviews and photographs.
Pake Zane was born on Maui in October 1941, but he doesn’t keep track of how many years it’s been since then.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe one should really be concerned with age,鈥 he said. “The more you鈥檙e concerned with it, the more you worry about it.”
As a 5-year-old, Zane tried to calculate how long it would take for him to travel around the entire world.
鈥淚 never did figure it out, but it took me 10 years,鈥 he said.
In that decade Zane traveled the Nile with Neil Abercrombie. He visited Barack Obama Sr., the president鈥檚 father, in West Africa. He lived on a houseboat in Amsterdam, selling dope for the government. He rebuilt 13th century homes in England, excavated Bronze in Thailand, was beaten in the streets of France and attended the coronation of a king in Nepal.
Zane moved back to Hawaii in 1973 with Julie, his travel partner and wife. Together they recycle cultural artifacts in their Honolulu store, Antique Alley.
鈥淢ost objects stimulate some kind of memory,” he said. “Whatever is made by man, I am willing to recycle it before it goes to the landfill.鈥
Zane has many memories to share. Listen to a few in his story:
Got the perfect person for FOCUS? Email Nathan Eagle at neagle@civilbeat.com.
