Community to celebrate life of Ka‘ū Calendar editor Julia Neal

Julia Neal, founder of the monthly publication the Ka‘ū Calendar and owner of the Pāhala Plantation Cottages, has been described as compassionate, generous, a community advocate and a dedicated journalist.

On Jan. 24, the Pāhala resident for about 30 years passed away in her home on Jan. 24. She was 75.

“Everybody knew who she was and what she did,” said Iopa Maunakea, founder of the nonprofit Men of Pa‘a. “That lady impacted the community just by her paper alone. She had a lot of integrity.”

Neal kept people from Miloli‘i to Pāhala informed of the goings-on in Hawai‘i Island’s sprawling rural district. From county elections to the controversial proposed resort development in Punalu‘u, Neal reported on the community truthfully.

On Saturday, the community is invited to celebrate Neal’s life at 9 a.m. at the Plantation House at 96-3209 Maile St. in Pāhala.

With Neal now gone, the Ka‘ū Calendar will cease operations, with its final publication to run later this month. The community is invited to submit letters, prayers, poems and art in honor of Neal to contribute to the final issue.

Send submissions to tibarra2000@gmail.com by Feb. 14.

Neal also ran a bed and breakfast and vacation rental business called the Pāhala Plantation Cottages, where she hosted weddings, science camps, music festivals and a variety of community events and gatherings.

“Her love for Ka‘ū’s unique community and culture and realization that the rural region lacked organized print media inspired her to start the Ka‘ū Calendar,” said Neal’s nephew, William Neal. “She also firmly believed that bringing the voices of those who call Ka‘ū home to the forefront on the region’s most consequential issues was imperative.”

William Neal said his aunt was the hardest-working person he ever knew.

“Few have had the passion and drive that she had,” he said. “Every day, she would wake up to report on the happenings of the community and national stories of consequence for Hawai‘i at large without missing a day.”

Neal covered community events, including the Ka‘ū Coffee Festival, high school graduations and the Pāhala Christmas Parade. She also hosted countless concerts at her property.

One Facebook user said they can’t imagine Pāhala without Neal, who always was wearing a hat and smiling.

William Neal said his aunt largely ran the paper alone.

“She did have some help with graphic design putting the paper together and from time to time throughout the years she had some folks help her take photos for stories or seek advertisers,” he said. “But largely the day-to-day reporting was all done by Julia.”

Neal was born in Missouri to a military family that was always on the move. She grew up in several places around the U.S. and Europe, including Kentucky, New York, Germany and France.

In the 1980s, Neal worked as a photographer for The Garden Island newspaper on Kaua‘i, working her way up to editor of the publication.

Senate Speaker Ron Kouchi was elected as a Kaua‘i County Council member when he met Neal, who at the time was a reporter at The Garden Island.

“It was a time when reporters would sit through the entire county council meetings,” Kouchi said. “They were firey journalists and did a lot of homework and research.”

Kouchi said Neal covered the development controversy of Nukoli‘i. According to a 2016 Honolulu Civil Beat article by the now Kaua‘i State Rep. Luke Evslin, the fight over Nukoli‘i was “Kaua‘i’s worst political crisis since statehood.”

Developers were trying to build a resort on Kaua‘i’s east shore. Although the vacant land at Nukoli‘i was upzoned to urban by the State Land Use Commission in 1974, no building could occur until the county changed the zoning to resort.

According to the Civil Beat article, the Planning Department, through the Līhu‘e Development Plan, recommended resort zoning in 1978, which sparked a wave of protests.

While they were on opposite sides of the issue, Kouchi supporting development and Neal opposing it, the senator said she wrote the story with all the facts, allowing readers to make their own choices.

“She was a professional,” Kouchi said. “She held you to the fire and asked the hard questions.”

After turning 40, Neal moved to the Big Island to start a new life in Pāhala.

Men of Paʻa’s Maunakea said Neal was involved in everything from housing to education.

“She was fearless about reporting things in Punalu‘u,” Maunakea said.

Maunakea met Neal four years ago. She opened up her cottages to the nonprofit when the members would stay overnight while in Ka‘ū to do service projects. He said Neal always made it a point to spend time with the group during their stays.

“She opened doors for us to engage our community service with the Ka‘ū region,” Maunakea said.

Neal is survived by her partner Michael C. Worthington, brother Forest Neal II, and three nephews; Forest Neal III, Michael Neal and William Neal.