Written by district court judge Samuel P. King and law teacher Randall W. Roth, Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement & Political Manipulation at America's Largest Charitable Trust is the true story of greed, corruption, and mismanagement that plagued the "nation's wealthiest charity" according to the Wall Street Journal circa 1995 - the Bishop Estate, legacy of Hawaiian Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who created the trust to maintain the educational institution of Kamehamea Schools and therefore benefit the children of Hawaii. In August 1997, four respected leaders of the native Hawaiian community and a professor of trust law publically accused the Bishop Estate's trustees with gross incompetence and severe trust abuse, to the point of being criminal, in a statement titled "Broken Trust". Now Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement & Political Manipulation gathers never-before-public information concerning the entire sordid matter, especially highlighting how corruption flourished in the legislature, courts, and legal profession, and how the media and the native Hawaiian community neglected to take a stand against it - virtually the opposite; the community would often be coaxed into protesting attempts to reform the trust or limit the power of the trustees. Broken Trust is not only a case study, but also offers larger lessons about the dangers of unchecked power and civil responsibility, and is very highly recommended reading for American and Hawaiian history shelves in public, college, and private libraries alike.

As an attorney who serves on and counsels boards of non-profit institutions, I was espcially interested in this compelling tale of what amounts to a worst-case scenario. Princess Pauahi's last will left a trust corpus so large that it called for persons most experienced in management of investments. But for decades, the judge-appointed trustees (a decidedly amateurish lot) were insensitive to their awesome responsibility for providing high-level academic and cultural education to thousands of Hawaiian children, the beneficiaries under the last will of the Princess. This is a close account of the bumps and warts of trustees who have succumbed to temptation, from which we learn that trustees, regardless of the scale of assets under their administration, and regardless of the particular political system and the courts that have the duty to supervise them, need to be held to account regularly.

I read a review of this book in a newspaper and was very intrigued. I really knew nothing about the Bishop Trust scandal. After having read this book, I can say I still really know nothing about the Bishop Trust scandal. I think I got more of a coherent account from the review than I did from this book. The book makes it abundantly clear that the publishing of the orginal "Broken Trust" stories in the local newspapers was a water shed event. I think the authors pat themselves on the back for their work more times than I can ever count. I wish that they had just reprinted the newspaper articles, because the book never really gets into the details. There are lots of stories about the evil trustee and her battle with the gallant school adminstrator. There is a lot of insinuation about corrupt politicians. But there is never really a good case put forth for why all of the players did what they did. Just what was the personal gain from it all? A few free trips to Vegas? I would still love to know the facts about what happened and why, but I was very put off by the gossipy tone of this book.

Wow! This book FAR exceeded my expectations. In addition to the mind-boggling stuff previously reported by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and 60 Minutes, "Broken Trust" includes fascinating stories about the early days of the trust, an eye-opening indictment of Hawaii's judiciary (especially the chief justice), and anecdotes that regularly had me laughing, crying, or mad as hell. My only problem with this book was that once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.

Wow! This book FAR exceeded my expectations. In addition to the mind-boggling stuff previously reported by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and 60 Minutes, "Broken Trust" includes fascinating stories about the early days of the trust, an eye-opening indictment of Hawaii's judiciary (especially the chief justice), and anecdotes that regularly had me laughing, crying, or mad as hell. My only problem with this book was that once I started reading, I couldn't put it down.

Comparing "Lost Generations" by J. Arthur Rath and Roth & King's book on the Bishop Estate scandal, I was struck by the somewhat overly critical coverage of Attorney General Bronster's legal maneuvers by Roth & King. I don't think that Roth & King were able to achieve an unbiased journalistic approach to the subject matter because of their personal involvement. Although factually rich, I found "Lost Generations" a much better read.

Comparing "Lost Generations" by J. Arthur Rath and Roth & King's book on the Bishop Estate scandal, I was struck by the somewhat overly critical coverage of Attorney General Bronster's legal maneuvers by Roth & King. I don't think that Roth & King were able to achieve an unbiased journalistic approach to the subject matter because of their personal involvement. Although factually rich, I found "Lost Generations" a much better read.

The authors do an excellent job not only of describing the events leading to the downfall of the trustees, but also of providing the background history on the establishment of the trust itself, back in the 19th century. Being interested in the more recent events, I started to become impatient in the beginning chapters, which did provide the history, but it proved to be useful and enlightening in the latter part of the book. The characters in the book could have been found in a fiction novel, but they are real. The story of the abuses of the trust and the legal, judiciary and fiduciary ethical lapses is fascinating. For a mainlander, some of the background history of pre-statehood Hawaii was also interesting. It does not follow a strictly linear time frame, but I think all the interwoven connections among the trustees, politicians and judges would be diffficult to make if it did. One doesn't have to be an attorney, a historian, a CPA or even a Hawaiian to appreciate this book.

The authors do an excellent job not only of describing the events leading to the downfall of the trustees, but also of providing the background history on the establishment of the trust itself, back in the 19th century. Being interested in the more recent events, I started to become impatient in the beginning chapters, which did provide the history, but it proved to be useful and enlightening in the latter part of the book. The characters in the book could have been found in a fiction novel, but they are real. The story of the abuses of the trust and the legal, judiciary and fiduciary ethical lapses is fascinating. For a mainlander, some of the background history of pre-statehood Hawaii was also interesting. It does not follow a strictly linear time frame, but I think all the interwoven connections among the trustees, politicians and judges would be diffficult to make if it did. One doesn't have to be an attorney, a historian, a CPA or even a Hawaiian to appreciate this book.

This book should be required reading by all who are interested in modern-day Hawaii beyond the sand and surf. It is an amazing example of how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The greed and abuse by the trustees are so outrageous, it's like reading a fairy tale with the Wicked Witch and wizard named "Oz". The sad part is realizing that these are real people who are still around... Kudos to the authors for bringing light to the darkness, and contributing book proceeds to children's education!

As a former 20 year resident of Hawaii and student of Professor Roth, I found this book to be as entertaining as any fictional crime story, but unfortunately more than true to life. It is easy to read yet full of detail and background. We lived in Hawaii during the period of time when the Bishop Estate and its trustees went from merely connected and powerful to arrogant, abusive and above the law. It was amazing to watch the speaker of the house become a trustee and continue to hold his speaker's position and vote on legislation directly affecting the trust. Professor Roth and Judge King provide the historical backgound to help the reader understand the origins of the trust and how the combination of immense wealth, control of large tracts of residential land, a one-party state, and a trustee nominating process linked hand in glove with the courts and the political process lead to such gross mismanagement and personal hubris. What is difficult to convey in just words to those who did not live in Hawaii during these times is just how untouchable the estate and the trustees were until the students and their families began to speak out, and how unprecedented the march on the trustees offices and the publication of the Broken Trust essay in the Star-Bulliten were. The book also provides additional insight into how the very political process that lead to the abuses then fostered the downfall of the trustees, as attacks on the unattackable (the trustees) became a way for an incumbent Democratic governor to distance himself from a party that had become synonymous with the excesses of the trustees. The only short-coming of the book is one that the authors cannot directly control - and that is the fact that many of the documents created during the investigation of the trustees are still blocked from publication. One can only hope that at some point in time the courts will see fit to honor Pauahi's request that there be a full accounting of the activities of the trust and its trustees. I will now probably go back to my bookshelf and pull out George Cooper's and Gaven Daws" "Land and Power in Hawaii" (a much denser read) and re-read chapter 13 -The Maryland Law.

Highly recommended.

Congratulations to the authors of "Broken Trust." They have captured well the details of the mismanagement and arrogance not to say protection of vested interest" by the four trustees charged with carrying out the wishes of Princess Pauahi. A very interesting read for anyone concerned about Hawaii history and integrity in trust management.

Sincerely,
Rosemary I. Patterson, Ph.D., Author, "An End To Innocence," a Hawaii novel about social activism from 1960 to 2000.