Robert Goodman, 65, pioneer
By Harold Morse
in desktop publishing
Star-BulletinRobert Goodman, author, desktop publisher and National Geographic photographer, died Tuesday in Castle Hospital. He was 65. To the multifaceted Goodman, storytelling and technology were as old as man, whether the message be a stone-chiseled petroglyph in volcanic rock or an image from a click of a computer icon.
In a preface to Hawaiian artist Herb Kane's book “Voyagers,” which Goodman published, he noted early Polynesians created chants to preserve their genealogies.
“They navigated their double-hulled sailing canoes across thousands of miles of open ocean, guided by the paths of stars, by the waves and swells,” Goodman said. “Both their storytelling and their technology evolved as expressions of harmony with the natural world.”
Goodman came to Hawaii in 1959 looking for a balance of technology and inspiration and found it here, he said. He and wife Lorie created an electronic color laboratory in their Nuuanu home that included scanning, typesetting, page layout, image-setting and proofing.
“‘Voyagers,' as a demonstration of our new storytelling technology, is part of the history playing out across its pages. It is the first full color art book ever to present both text and images created entirely on the desktop,” Goodman said.
Artist Kane said he and Goodman began working together in 1970 with publishing efforts related to Hawaiian music.
“He really was a pacesetter in publishing in Hawaii,” Kane said.
They published Kane's “Canoes of Polynesia” in 1974 and Kane's “Voyagers” in 1991.
Another longtime friend and associate, author-historian MacKinnon Simpson, whose 1986 book “WhaleSong” was also a desktop book put out by Goodman, called Goodman's passing a terrible loss.
Simpson noted “The Hawaiians,” a coffee-table book published in 1970, featuring Goodman photographs and text by Ed Sheehan and Gavan Daws, sold 250,000 copies.
Altogether, Goodman had a hand in publishing more than 120 books, Simpson said.
Before Goodman published Simpson's whaling book, he did things the old-fashioned way.
“Prior to that, everything was published traditionally,” Simpson said. “I wrote ‘WhaleSong', and Bob and I designed it and put the whole thing together on a Macintosh.”
Goodman was born in Cincinnati and attended Ohio University where he studied photography. He freelanced for publications such as Life, Fortune, Sports Illustrated and Saturday Evening Post, and became the youngest photographer ever employed by National Geographic.
His work took him around the world. He left the National Geographic to pursue his own interests, with “The Australians,” his first published book in 1967.
Goodman is survived by his wife; son David of Honolulu; daughter Maile Specter of Chicago; and father Winkler Goodman of Cincinnati.
Services are pending.
Earl T. Barrozo, 32, of Kailua-Kona died Monday in Kona Hospital. Born in Honolulu, he is survived by son Tevin Tolentino; mother Joana; father William J.; sisters Mara L. Amone, Paulette Riveira and Stephanie Reichart; brother Patrick; maternal grandfather Romaldo Rivera; and paternal grandfather Rev. Henry Riveira. All-night visitation from noon tomorrow at Barrozo residence, 74-5155 Kialoa Place, Kailua-Kona. Scattering of ashes: 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Keauhou Bay. Boats depart 11:30 a.m. from Keauhou pier. No flowers. Casual attire.
