Bess Press is a Hawaii-based publisher that issues various books on Hawaiian and Pacific history and culture.[1] It was founded by Benjamin "Buddy" Bess, who came to Hawaii in 1976 from New York.
Bess bought the rights to two out-of-print textbooks on Hawaiian language, Hawaii: The Aloha State and Hawaii: Our Island State that local schools asked about when he was a sales representative for mainland publishers. He reprinted both volumes for $15,000, and pre-sold the copies, thus making a profit.