Honolulu author, historian and journalist Bob Dye died Friday following a long illness. He was 81.
Dye wrote "Merchant Prince of the Sandalwood Mountains: Afong and the Chinese in Hawai�i," about the first Chinese millionaire in Hawai�i, and he was the editor of "Hawai�i Chronicles II and III."

Dye's latest book, "Humble Honest Men," a comic novel set in Hawai�i and Ireland, has been nominated for a Ho�okela Award.
Longtime friend Jerry Burris described Dye as "a renaissance man and determined Irishman, who was a writer, politician, social worker, professor and journalist. He was a top aide to both Frank Fasi and Cef Heftel."
Fasi, former Honolulu mayor, died late Wednesday, the day before Heftel, former Hawaii congressman, died in San Diego.