Yin & Yang Press
Many friends and acquaintances told me over the years that it must have been 'interesting' growing up in the Deep South as part of the sole Chinese family in town. Upon reflection, I realized that perhaps they were right, and decided to write a memoir, Southern Fried Rice. In doing research for this book, I learned much about the history of Chinese immigrants in the U. S. and Canada. I used this material to help promote my book on a website, which proved very helpful in getting positive support that eventually led me to write a social history, Chinese Laundries, and before long, a third book on Chinese history in Mississippi, Chopsticks in the Land of Cotton. A fourth book, Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants, in 2010 examines the history and development of family-run Chinese restaurants throughout the U. S. and Canada.
My books are a blend of history and psychology; they examine historical events and societal context but focus on the life experiences of Chinese immigrant families from southeastern China that engaged in self-employment businesses such as laundries, groceries, and restaurants from the late 1800s until past the middle of the last century. Their struggles against substantial obstacles and how they dealt with them must be recognized, admired, and recorded because they paved the way for future generations of Chinese to have a better life in the U. S. and Canada.
This new 'career' following my retirement after 40 years as a psychology professor was due not to a master plan, but to such a highly unlikely fortuitous series of happy encounters and contacts that I was urged to provide an overview on a website, with a working title of "Expect the Unexpected:In Search of Chinese American History," which will serve as a place to write a draft for a book on the chronology and psychology of this new "career."
