Volcanic Ash

David Shapiro has covered Hawai’i and national news for five decades as a reporter, editor and columnist for Honolulu daily newspapers.

Shapiro joined the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in Hilo in 1968 as an editorial assistant. He covered city and state government on O’ahu before returning to Hilo for a six-year stint as Big Island correspondent.

He went to Washington, D.C., in 1978 to cover Hawai’i’s congressional delegation, as well as national energy and space issues, and later became news editor of Gannett News Service. He set up a California regional news wire for Gannett Newspapers in 1986 before returning to Hawai’i in 1987 as managing editor of the Star-Bulletin, a position he held until he became disabled from multiple sclerosis in 2001.

His “Volcanic Ash” column, which appeared in the Star-Bulletin from 1994-2001, the the Honolulu Advertiser from 2001-2010 and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser since 2010, was named  best editorial column three times by the Hawaii Publishers Association, which gave Shapiro its Hall of Fame award in 2010. The column was also honored three times for Excellence in Journalism by the Society of Professional Journalists, Hawai’i Chapter, which inducted Shapiro into its hall of fame in 2001. The Honolulu Community Media Council honored him with its 2001 Fletcher Knebel Award for community service.

Shapiro has conducted news writing and editing workshops at newspapers across the country and has also taught journalism at Kapi’olani Community College. He is a graduate of Hilo High School and the University of Hawaii. He was named a distinguished alumnus of the University of Hawaii at Hilo.