Hana is a special place, and some interesting people have been drawn to it. Beatle George Harrison, aviator Charles Lindbergh, entertainers Jim Nabors and Kris Kristofferson, and Sam Pryor, to name a few. Several readers shared stories about some of them.
Most of my readers, I suspect, would be unfamiliar with Sam Pryor Jr. (1898-1985). Pryor was a vice president of Pan American World Airways in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. He retired to Maui and bought a ranch in Kipahulu, 12 miles past Hana.
Pryor and his wife, Mary, built a home on a cliff above a waterfall. One of his best friends was fellow aviator Lindbergh, who found the remote setting appealing. He built a home next to Pryor’s, and the two often spent time together.
Pryor and Lindbergh restored the Palapala Ho‘omau Church in Kipahulu, and both are buried there today, along with several of Pryor’s pet gibbon monkeys. Lindbergh said it was “the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”
Hospitable
Attorney Mark Davis stumbled upon Pryor’s house in Hana one day. “My wife, Janie, and I (newly married and in our 20s) hiked down a road in Kipahulu in the mid-1970s.
“We happened upon a long imposing driveway on a heavy forested road. We wandered up the driveway only to be warmly greeted by Sam Pryor, who introduced himself, showed us around his beautiful estate and invited us in.
“His home was next to the Lindbergh home, then occupied by his widow, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. He was particularly proud of his pair of gibbons which had been the gift of some Asian royal family.
“He was a charming, warm and hospitable person and welcomed us to his beautiful Kipahulu home.”
Jim Nabors and Carol Burnett
Nabors built a 340-acre estate in Hana. My friend, Ron Augustine, had a funny story about Nabors’ first meeting with Pryor.
“Back in the 1980s, I was dabbling in Satellite TV, which was new in Hawaii. Jim Nabors hired me to install a system at his Maui ranch.
“Jim and I flew on his private plane to Hana, and I had a lot of time to chat with him about a variety of subjects. I asked him why he chose a property in Hana, so far away from everything.
“He said one of his best buddies, Burt Reynolds, had asked him to be in a couple of his movies. Burt’s favorite place to chill out after a grueling movie shoot was the Hotel Hana Maui. Jim had stayed there a couple of times and liked the area.
“Nabors asked about buying property in the area. He was told to forget about it. The whole east end of Maui had been controlled by the Pryor family. There were very few property sales, and none without the express consent of Sam Pryor.
“He was told that Pryor was a recluse who lived a long way up the slopes of Haleakala, had no TV or phone, and had been known to chase people off his property with a shotgun.
“Nabors decided to try to meet Pryor,” Augustine continued, “but people in the area told him that Pryor might not even know who he was because he had no TV.
“Jim came up with a plan. Carol Burnett, another of his best friends, had a place in West Maui, near Napili. He called her and said, ‘Carol, I need some star power and I could use your help.’
“Jim thought that if Pryor didn’t know who he was, he might know Carol, since she had been on TV longer. She said it sounded like a fun adventure, so they rented a car and drove up the mountain looking for Pryor.
“They found a house that looked like a candidate, but it was behind a wall and gate. Jim shouted down the long driveway to the house but got no response. The gate was unlocked, so they started walking down the driveway, shouting every so often while keeping a wary eye out for a shotgun.
“They got all the way up to the front porch, but still no sign of life. The front door was open but a screen door was closed. They assumed nobody was home and were about to leave when something appeared to move behind the screen door.
“A voice said, ‘Well, you made it this far, you might as well come in.’ Pryor let them in, but Jim said he hardly spoke at all. But after a while he opened up.
“Nabors said, ‘Carol and I sat there for an hour listening to a description of just about every property transaction for the past 50 years in East Maui.
“Jim said he didn’t think they were getting anywhere, and he and Carol were giving each other looks like ‘Let’s get out of here!’ They got up, said they had to leave and headed for the door.
“Pryor escorted them to the front porch where he said, ‘Well, Mr. and Mrs. Burnett, it sure was nice meeting you — come back and see me again sometime.’
“Jim said Pryor had no clue who either of them was, and apparently just remembered the name Burnett. He probably thought they were some married couple trying to buy Maui property.
“He said they could hardly contain themselves until they got to the car and laughed uproariously for at least 10 minutes. Nabors found someone who could get Pryor’s approval to buy his ranch — a beautiful 340-acre plot between the Hana Highway and the ocean.
“Nabors also said he couldn’t go anywhere in the U.S. without being recognized. The only places where nobody would come up to him were Australia and South Africa. Only those two countries … and the eastern slopes of Haleakala!”
Nabors Nuts
Nabors built a home in Hana in the late 1970s and planted 20,000 macadamia nut trees. “I had done 300 televisions shows and movies, 35 record albums and had had a show in Las Vegas for 16 years,” Nabors said. “I decided to just go and farm.”
Augustine said the property had a banyan grove, fruit trees, an old retired railroad car originally used for pineapples, and a macadamia nut grove and processing facility.
“I asked Nabors if he had thought of a brand name for the mac nuts when they were ready for market. He said someone had suggested ‘Nabors Nuts,’ but he wasn’t so sure that was a good idea.”
‘Emme’s Island Moments’
Hawaii journalist Emme Tomimbang interviewed Nabors at his Hana home for one of her “Emme’s Island Moments” television specials. She had a knack for saying outrageously funny things on the air without intending to.
At the close of the interview, she asked Nabors if he was going to relax, retire, enjoy life and watch his nuts grow. They both burst out laughing.
Do you have a story about the Hana-Kipahulu area or people who live there? If so, send me an email.
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
