Love, Luck, and Resistance: The Chinese Experience on Both Sides of the Pacific

Acclaimed author and San Francisco Chinatown native Ruthanne Lum McCunn will read from her newest historical novel God of Luck on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 from 7-9 pm at the I-Hotel Manilatown Center. In God of Luck, Ah Lung and his beloved wife, Bo See, are separated by a cruel fate when, like thousands of other Chinese men in the nineteenth century, he is kidnapped, enslaved and sent from his village in southeastern China to the deadly guano mines off the shore of Peru. Bo See never loses hopes of being reunited with him and employs all of her resources to ensure his return—including praying to the God of Luck. McCunn will also read excerpts of her novel Wooden Fish Songs (1997), newly revised for re-publication by University of Washington Press. The remarkable true story of 19th century immigrant-cum-renown horticulturalist Lum Gim Gong, Wooden Fish Songs has been adapted for stage and has been presented nationwide. The event is co-presented by Manilatown Heritage Foundation, Chinese Culture Center, Chinese Historical Society of America, Kearny Street Workshop, and Asian American Women Artists Association. “Never separating history from its impact on individual people, McCunn has reached into her characters’ hearts to bring readers a story of emotional depth and truth” --Lisa See, author of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan “A meticulously researched and beautifully written tale of early Chinese migration to the Americas…God of luck is a splendid read.” --Franklin Odo, Director, Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, Smithsonian Institution About Ruthanne Lum McCunn Born in 1946 in San Francisco's Chinatown of Scottish and Chinese descent, Ruthanne Lum McCunn grew up in Hong Kong, where she was educated first in Chinese and then British schools. In 1962 she returned to the U.S. to attend college. Her first novel, Thousand Pieces of Gold, first published in 1982, depicted a Chinese American pioneer’s experiences as a slave and free woman in the Pacific Northwest. Acclaimed as a "stunning biography" by the Los Angeles Times, the book was twice a Quality Paperback Book Club Alternate and was adapted for film in 1991. McCunn’s other titles include Pie-Biter, Sole Survivor, Chinese American Portraits: Personal Histories 1828-1988, and The Mood Pearl. McCunn’s work has been translated into eleven languages and published in twenty-two countries. She has taught at Cornell University, University of California at Santa Cruz, University of San Francisco, and lectures frequently at community organizations, schools, and libraries.