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 1977 Event Poster by John Bain1977 Event Map by Len Piper To Be Sold Together (Updated 12/01/2025) John Bain, a beloved and well-known North Shore kamaaina ("local") on the island of Oahu passed away in June 2016. He was memorialized in a number of ways, including a showing of his art in 2024 at the famous Nazare, Portugal, giant wave break. I discovered some now-deleted posts about John Bain, and several news items about both him and Len Piper from archives of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in the 70s and 80s. My connection to John was not in person. It is amazing that we never bumped into each other since we were both often in the same neighborhoods surfing or hanging out during the years 1973 to 1986. I left Hawaii in 1986. I took very few things with me. Many of those items ended up in storage in Seattle. In October 2023, while emptying that storage unit, I discovered items I had not remembered at all. They had somehow followed me around from Hawaii, to Canada, to Seattle, to Wichita, and then back to Seattle. The images shown below are from recent photographs taken of a stunning pen and watercolor piece that John did for an event at the La Pietra Hawaii School for Girls in 1977 called "Ye Olde World Pleasure Faire." It just so happened that I lived just three blocks away from the school, on Diamond Head, during 1972 to 1977. I was aware of the event and attended it briefly, but never saw any posters the size of the one depicted here. In 1984 I bought it and some other items at a Rick Ralston (Crazy Shirts) auction benefiting the Hawaii Historic Foundation. In addition, the purchase at the auction included a guide map to the Pleasure Faire drawn by Len Piper, another well-known creator in Honolulu during the 70s and 80s. Len, among other things, put on many shows using life-size marionettes and was the official Santa Claus for Ala Moana Shopping Center for several years. Both items are 25" x 18". The map is double-sided and has a preliminary sketch on the back side. It appears that this was a working and final sketch printed back to back. Len Piper's signature (not original) appears in right-hand corner near the scroll sign. |
  
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Before putting these art pieces on sale, I have been attempting to find La Pietra alumni or other relevant members of the Hawaii School for Girls to offer them a first chance at purchasing this stunning piece of La Pietra history. So far, I have only been able to find contact information for the head of the school and a couple of alumni. So far, the head of the school has declined. It is more than a little noteworthy that the La Pietra 1977 Faire was the first such fair in Hawaii. A second fair took place in Kaneohe in July 1982. Honokaa folks started up an annual Renaissance Faire in November 2022. Unfortunately, although they have been advised, they still claim to be the "first renaissance faire in Hawaii." Just this September 2025, a first Renaissance Faire called Volcano Ren Faire, took place in Mountain View (Big Island). Looks like the Big Island is going Renaissancey. Huzzah! They are listed for sale at my Etsy Shop -- Sterling Images. Both Posters Are Offered for Sale as a Single Item.
More Photographs Further Below,
Frontside (Backside is blank)
Close-up of signature reveals it is original - not a print
Front of map poster
(Len Piper printed signature right side of La Pietra Scroll Sign)
Backside of map poster shows a Len Piper draft
This piece appears to be two-sided with the draft on one side
and the final on the other side for the purposes of presentation display and archiving.
Thank You for Visiting!
Best wishes! Ron Sterling
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RON STERLING
Sterling Images (tm)
Seattle, Washington USA
Updated December 1, 2025
Copyright 2005-2025. Ron Sterling. All Rights Reserved.
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