Richard "Rick" Paul Carroll

Richard Paul “Rick” Carroll, an adventurous storyteller by nature and profession, died August 6

at Wilcox Medical Center on Kauai after an illness. He was 80. His writing, both journalistic and

creative, won many prizes in California and Hawaii. He worked for newspapers in the San

Francisco Bay Area and Honolulu and later became a freelance travel writer based on Oahu.

Some of his best work as a staff writer for the Honolulu Advertiser included accompanying

doctors on Aloha Medical Missions to remote island communities in the Philippines,

documenting and sometimes holding lights in their makeshift operating rooms.

He loved the Pacific and wrote about its people, from the King of Tonga to Philippine rebels to

the larger-than-life Hawaiian man whose haunting lovesong was known round the world, “Over

the Rainbow/Wonderful World. “ He was most proud of this biography of Israel

Kamakawiwoʻole, IZ Voice of the People, among some 20 Hawaii/Pacific books he wrote,

including a Bess Press series of Best Spooky Tales of supernatural encounters as told by

Hawaiian people.

He was born March 13, 1943, in Fort Dodge, Iowa during World War II to Darralene Oleson

Carroll, while his father, USAF Col. Virgil Carroll, flew missions in both the Pacific and Europe.

He attended Catholic grade school in San Jose, CA, then moved with his family to Okinawa and

graduated from Kubasaki High School before working as an intern for his first newspaper,

Okinawa Morning Star.

He returned to the Bay Area and attended San Jose State University before joining the San Jose

Mercury News covering local news. He served in the US Army Reserves at Fort Ord. In 1972, he

joined the San Francisco Chronicle as a reporter, covering the southern Bay Area. In 1983, he

moved to Honolulu with his reporter wife Marcie who won a Gannett Fellowship in Asian

Studies. He worked for the Honolulu Advertiser with more prize-winning reportage. Together as

freelancers, the Carrolls edited Travelers Tales Hawaii, a collection of essays by famous and

unknown authors, as well as several Hawaii guide books.

The Carrolls moved to Beaufort, NC to be near daughter Shannon Tillett and her sons, Cole,

now 25, and Shane, 22, and bought the waterfront Rocking Chair Bookstore. A lifelong jazz fan,

he interviewed and photographed many jazz legends at the annual Monterey Jazz Festival and

other venues.

Rick is survived by his wife, Marcie Carroll of Princeville, HI; daughter Shannon Tillett of

Winterville NC, grandsons Cole Tillett of Greenville NC and Shane Tillett of Raleigh NC; his

brother, David Carroll of Vacaville, CA and twin sisters Conni Grod (and husband Thomas Grod)

of Medford, OR and Caren Carroll, of Friday Harbor, WA; as well as nephew Zachary Folkman

and his children Zoey Folkman and Logan Folkman, also of Friday Harbor.

A Celebration of Life is being planned. The family requests that friends and loved ones of Rick make donations in his name to the Hawaii Community Foundation; Maui Strong Fund to help support those affected by the Maui wildfires. Mahalo!

http://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/maui-strong

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