Extraordinary people lead extraordinary lives and, from the beginning, even before he had any control over his life, John Meigs' life was extraordinary: kidnapped by his father, never to see his mother again. Once on his own, he tried his hand as a reporter in Los Angeles in 1936, and then in Honolulu, where he got drawn into the art world, becoming one of the original designers of the Hawaiian aloha shirts. Those pursuits were interrupted with the onset of World War II and John's enlistment in the Navy. After a serendipitous escape of death and military duty in Florida, John returned to...