Ruth M. Tabrah (February 28, 1921 – April 8, 2004), was an American writer and ordained Buddhist minister.

Life and career

Ruth Tabrah was born in

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

and studied at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1 ...

. Most of her life was spent in

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only sta ...

, living first on the Big Island and later in Honolulu. She was an ordained minister at Honpa Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin and became an authority on the history of Buddhism in Hawai'i. She served as the president of the Hawai'i Association of International Buddhists and was active in Buddhist community events, such as obon, hanamatsuri and other festivals. Tabrah was a prolific author, writing on a wide range of topics. Her work included children's books, novels about immigration to the United States, and non-fiction about the history of Japan and the Hawaiian Islands. ''Hawaii: A History'' was published in 1984. Her 1995 novel, ''The Monk Who Dared'', is based on the life of Japanese Buddhist sage Shinran Shonin, founder of the Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism.

Selected bibliography

* ''Hawaii: A History''. New York: Norton, 1980. * ''Living Shin Buddhism: An Account of a Visit with Hanada-Sensei'', Honolulu: Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai'i, 1978. * ''The Monk who Dared: A Novel about Shinran''. Kailua, HI: Press Pacifica, 1995. * ''The Monk’s Wife: A Novel about Esshini'', Honolulu: Buddhist Studies Center, 2001. * ''Ni’ihau: The Last Hawaiian Island.'' Kailua, HI: Press Pacifica, 1987. * ''Pulaski Place''. New York: Harper, 1950. * "Religions of Japanese Immigrants and Japanese American Communities," ''Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America'', ed. Rosemary Skinner Keller and Rosemary Radford Ruether. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006, 680–687. * ''The Voices of Others''. New York: Putnam, 1959. *"Hawaii Nei". Chicago & New York: Follett Publishing Company, 1967

Life and career

Selected bibliography

Further reading