On November 19, 2009, I was interviewed by Dr. Zara F. Larsen. She leads The Larsen Group: Architects of Change in Tucson, AZ (zara.larsen@thelarsengroup.com). She interviews dozens of interesting people from all walks of life, sharing their experiences and philosophies with her listeners. You can listen to the original audio of my interview and others by going to Zara’s webpage at www.TheLarsenGroup.com.
I am providing the original audio along with many photographs from our family albums below. These videos are indexed (along with others about my book) on YouTube.com, so please feel free to tell your friends about them and have them leave their comments here or at YouTube.com.
Enjoy the interview below (in 4 parts due to technical requirements).
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3 (short segment)
Part 4 (final segment)
Dick’s article is so interesting. I can understand how he came to appreciate the Chinese culture as a result of his experiences. Chi continues to amaze me and I love that she is sharing her recipes with us.
Chi,
Your interview was thoroughly enjoyable. It’s a pleasure to know
you and Dick. fp
“Farewell, My Beijing”
It was purely by chance this Summer of 2010 that I met Ms. Chi Newman and bought her book “Farewell, My Beijing.” In this particular case, chance was good.
Chi’s story is spectacular, born and brought up in China, and then with the takeover of China by the Communists in 1949, at the age of 14 she was sent out of China by her parents for her safety, ending in Taiwan with an older sister.
Her story of her child’s life in Beijing in a well to do family is to enter into a realm that is captivatingly foreign to us Westerners, holds your interest from the very beginning.
Then her forced leaving of mainland China begins a new life for her that simply remains captivating, her beginning working for a living in Taipei in the French Embassy, and with the flow of her life marries an American who enters into the U. S. State Department Foreign Service. Thus a life that becomes amazing with travel and living in a multitude of foreign countries.
Chi incorporates in her story elements of her Chinese upbringing relative to, for example, the Chinese philosophy Yin-Yang, the balancing of negative and positive aspects of living. She does not preach this, but shows it in her stories. Another aspect is focusing on the the good events of her life, let them overcome the bad things that happen. An example is having had to endure 7 months in a rigid caste of her body because of an airplane crash. She relates this, and when it’s over, it’s over and she does not go back to it. It’s a case of living a life marvelously and her relating that.