Class News

Sam Low '64 interviewed about Polynesian voyaging canoe

Hawaiian Boat Follows the Sea Paths of Ancestors

January 21, 2014

Sam Low '64 was interviewed by WCAI, the NPR radio station serving Cape Cod and the islands including Martha's Vineyard, where Sam lives. The interview discusses Sam's book, Hawaiki Rising, which documents the construction and voyages of Hokule'a, a replica Polynesian voyaging canoe, as well as the story of the men and women who sailed in the wake of their ancestors to discover pride in their culture and themselves.

Sam Low is a Harvard-trained anthropologist (Ph.D. 1974) who since 1979 has written, directed, and produced programs for such PBS series as Nova, Odyssey, Out of the Past, and The Ring of Truth. In 1983 he produced The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific, a PBS special featuring the Polynesians and their epic voyages, which has been shown on television nationally and internationally. (See it below.) He has sailed 5000 miles aboard Hokule'a. He is a journalist with many articles published in various sailing magazines as well as other venues.

Sam's articles and films have won many awards. He has taught as a professor and lecturer at Hunter College and Bowdoin College and participated in underwater archeological excavations in Greece and Turkey. He lives on Martha's Vineyard and in Maine.

See Sam's photo gallery on this website, and see Sam's own website.