Odyssey Publishing, LLC  - About Us

Odyssey Publishing has been mapping Hawaii since 1993.  The inspiration for our research and the tremendous effort it takes to personally drive as many roads as possible comes from the tragic death of Dana Ireland, Christmas Day, 1991.

On Christmas Eve, 1991, 23 year old Dana Ireland, a visitor from Virginia, was bicycling down a paved country lane near the ocean when she was run down by 3 men in a car.  Dana was brutally raped and left to die on a rural road in the remote area of Waa Waa. 

Emergency services took too long to find her location because there was no adequate mapping of the rural roads.  Sadly, Dana was found and transported to the hospital, but not in time to save her life. She died on Christmas Day.

After waiting 2 years, expecting someone, anyone, to step up to the plate and develop better detailed maps of East Hawaii, Odyssey Publishing decided to look into the matter.  A stop at the Hawaii Police Dispatch Unit in Hilo revealed their operators relied on crude, patches of individual hand drawn maps.  Sergeant Sakoda pleaded with us to please help.

The first map book, The Ready Mapbook of East Hawaii, took 3 years to research and bring to print.  Section by section, real estate records were researched and compared to USGS maps.  Record research was followed by field research to distinguish between “paper roads” and physical roads.  We made careful notes about the location of gates, road conditions, and anything that might block a fire truck such as an old, weak bridge.

The first edition of The Ready Mapbook of East Hawaii was in print in 1995.  Sergeant Sakoda had tears in his eyes when we presented his unit with their complimentary copies.  His thanks made all our hard work worthwhile.

Although Odyssey Publishing is located in Hilo on the Big Island, it became apparent the all the neighbor islands needed better, more thorough mapping.  The Ready Mapbook of Kauai and The Ready Mapbook of Maui County followed.  Every year we travel to Kauai or to Maui County to research and drive roads.

Maintaining up to date maps is a never-ending process.  Our small staff is literally a family—grandma, grandpa, daughter, and grandson.  Our dedication to presenting the most accurate, the most complete maps possible is driven by the memory of the tragic loss of Dana Ireland.