Meet Leonard Lueras. Surfing "newspaper man" who washed on the shores of Bali in 1970 and fell in love with the country of gods.
Aloha Leonard! Can you tell me first where you are?
I was born into a Spanish-Latin family in the ancient American city of Albuquerque, Nuevo Mejico (New Mexico) in the United States of America, but years later, I lived most of my childhood and early adolescence in California and Hawaii. I attended and graduated from a small private university in San Diego, California, but the longest part of my American life - about 23 years - was spent living and working in the State of Hawaii. For most of those years, I'm a reporter for The Honolulu Advertiser, the largest newspaper in Hawaii (and America's oldest newspaper west of the US Rockies).
How did you feel time on Bali and how did you wash these shores?
I came to Bali first during the late summer of 1970. At that time, I am a passionate surfer and I came to this island to find what I had said were very good surfing waves.
Just before coming here - then by Pan American Airways and flights Thai International (Saigon to Bangkok and Jakarta) - and later overland by train and bus to Jogjakarta and Surabaya to Bali - I had been temporarily based in Saigon, South Vietnam as a war correspondent for my Honolulu newspaper that had established one of the first war of Vietnam in Saigon new offices. After writing and photographing the war in Vietnam for a while, I had time for a break / holiday, so (based on the advice of friends) I flew to Bali with a surfboard to check the conditions waveriding here. Once I got here, I find indeed - on this island and remote and little visited. - Many very good surfing conditions and a remarkably vibrant and living culture,
At this time, I quickly became very fond of the island of Bali, so for years later I would return to Bali every time I had the Hawaiian breakaway chance and other places to relax in "Country" Gods. "
He was always fun to be here as a visitor / tourist, but a very big break came in late 1983 / early 1984, a publishing house based in Singapore called Editions Times asked me to write a book on Bali island This "coffee table book." - Bali, Ultimate island - is still in print, but in the initial stages of writing this writing project not only allowed me to go to Bali, and saves their lives while being here but, more especially he paid for me to spend more than one and half year working on a beautiful exotic island that already me in its spell.
Your villa compound here in Sanur is beautiful and I hear that you have a well-known photographer moved into the neighborhood - how did this happen
Thanks for the compliment kampung. Yes, our compound is a beautiful place - located in Sanur area that used to be a little desolate and uninhabited by foreigners. These days, however, our neighborhood has become a very trendy area populated by many trendy people who live in eccentric villas. Our specific compound - Taman Mertasari - me and two other editors (one English, one French), a clothing designer / producer (US) includes me (yet another American) and, yes, an internationally renowned photographer. The photographer, who recently joined our compound, is a longtime friend named Sebastiao Salgado. It is a remarkable Brazilian gentleman who is based in Paris and we are delighted him, his eyes, and his wife Lelia as new members of Taman Mertasari have.
You are known (among others) to be a writer, photographer and editor - Which of these three do you want people to know you best and why ?
Probably the best way to describe me would call me a "media monster" but the description I prefer the most for me is to be considered a "journalist." My early training and work later life was largely spent in "good old days" when newspapering news coverage for everyday was probably the most fun and interesting job in the world. This job took me all over Hawaii and around the world for many years fascinating but I had to abandon my itinerant journalism career in the early 1980s, when I became a single parent and had to spend a lot of my time raising two children by myself. He was at that time that I seriously began to write books instead of filing of the relative mails daily.
You're quite the guy and shades are a part of your personality - is that still the case? What brand do you wear
I have always said that you can never have too many pairs of sunglasses, baseball caps or tropical cool shirts - especially in tropical regions. As my Hawaiian friends used to say. "I want to be comfortable, not hot, brah" I loved all kinds of sunglasses over the years, but in recent years I became a devoted fan Oakley sunglasses (something to do with the look and lentils).
Where did your love for photography come from?
I am quite avidly involved in photography since the days of high school in California, but the photograph later became a very important part of my life once I began working as a correspondent an international newspaper in the early 1970. in those days, it was rare that a newspaper could afford to send both a reporter and a photographer on a mission together, so I have to personally take photos to accompany my written. I do not mind doing this, however, because I have always loved taking pictures. I find writing to be a hard and disciplined work, but photography has always been for me a pleasant diversion and a form of visual meditation.
What was the most memorable picture you took to Bali?
Wow, that's a difficult question to answer because Bali is so rich in images, whether of persons, places or things about. But some of the most striking images I remember shooting my scenes are great Balinese ceremonies back in the 1970s and early 1980s then there was still a feeling of "Old Bali" that I see too often these days.
Which device do not work with these days you
In the good old days of film I mainly used Leica rangefinder cameras, but these days -ci - given the "digital revolution" and the recent "death of film" - I use Canon digital cameras. I am particularly fond of a small Canon digital camera I called the G-10.
What is your latest published work
Yikes, during the half-and last year I went out three new books - ? A limited edition book on the childhood of President Barack Obama in Indonesia and Hawaii, one about the Riau Islands Batam, and another about these effigies hovering Balinese "Day of Silence" ogoh-ogoh called . The ogoh-ogoh book is one of the largest "coffee table books" ever produced on a Balinese topic and is filled with many beautiful and sordid images of ogoh-ogoh taken by some 33 Balinese and foreign photographers.
Can you tell me a bit of the album Obama created especially for the visit of President Obama to Indonesia last year? And why you were asked to do that?
This book is for the Obamas (Barack, Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama), was commissioned by the Javanese family of President Obama in Indonesia. They wanted something very personal and special to honor the occasion of the first official state visit of Obama in Indonesia. Being an American and especially Hawaii (birthplace of Obama, and place of birth of my two children) I'm happy and proud to do something for my outstanding president. This limited edition album-book includes rare photographs and never published Obama as a young child in Indonesia and Hawaii, and recently, the Library of the US Congress, even got a copy to place in their collection rare books.
You have a unique car in its kind - can you tell me more about it? What inspired you to change it with wood? And what do people say expressions as you drive by them in it?
My car is a 1970 long wheelbase Land Rover than English pillar box was painted red and has been beautifully furnished by Indonesian craftsmen carpenters with local teak wood . He is what surfers 1960s used to call a "woodie", meaning a vintage vehicle with wood. I drove three times from Bali to Jakarta and back and people seem to really like it because they always want to take pictures of him and always ask me if I would sell them. I have a lot of fun with this car and there ( "The Red Rover") became more of a friend to me than my car.
Sounds like fun. So, as an expatriate who has lived in Bali for a while now, how do you feel about the rapid changes occurring on the island in terms of development?
Some things are for the better and some things are worse. The first time I came to Bali there was no electricity, no telephone and the roads potholed particularly funky. There were very few places where you could get a good meal, but despite these drawbacks Bali was extremely charming. I miss those days - when you could enjoy a meal of two lobsters in Kuta for about a dollar - but I also like a lot of things that the "progress" has brought to the island. "Progress" can be a drag, but it's also fun these days to have access to Internet and to have international newspapers and croissants delivered to my house in the morning.
What expats and visitors can do on the island to live in harmony with its culture, its people and its nature?
Do what you can do to preserve the environment and culture of the amazing life of Bali. Bali modern things like billboards traffic, plastic and advertising become really annoying, so do what you can influence local people EXPUNGE and avoid those things.
If you were to be stranded on a desert island for a month, what three things you bring with you and why?
I bring a lot of beer, a hot woman Javanese I love, and all the books I wanted to read (but have not yet read).
Great answer. And what was your greatest achievement to date?
My greatest achievement in life was raising two beautiful and loving children (one son, Lorca, and a daughter, Asia) by myself.
And finally, three words that best sum up your personality, Leonard?
Love, truth, beauty.
Thank you Leonard! If you want to get in touch with the guy, send an email to leonardinbali@gmail.com.