The Pasadena Public Library hosts Los Angeles-based author Lisa See as she presents her book, “On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese American Family” in a virtual event on Wednesday, May 19, 5 to 6 p.m.
In the book, Lisa See provides a complex portrait of her family’s hard work, suffering and successes as they moved from China to the United States.
In 1867, See’s great-great-grandfather arrived in America, where he prescribed herbal remedies to immigrant laborers who were treated little better than slaves. His son Fong See, Lisa’s grandfather, later built a mercantile empire and married a Caucasian woman, in spite of laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
Lisa herself grew up playing in her family’s antiques store in Los Angeles’s Chinatown, listening to stories of missionaries and prostitutes, movie stars and Chinese baseball teams.
With these stories and her own years of research, See chronicles a history that encompasses racism, romance, secret marriages, entrepreneurial genius, and much more, as two distinctly different cultures meet in a new world.
For more about Lisa See and her book, visit www.lisasee.com/on-gold-
Presented on Zoom, Wednesday’s webinar is sponsored by the Friends of the Pasadena Public Library and is presented in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
To sign up, go to the Pasadena Public Library’s calendar page, www.cityofpasadena.net/
For more information, call (626) 744-4066.
