Edwin Lee discusses his new memoir, Sum Yung Guys (2014), a chronicle of his and his family’s life in Vancouver’s Chinatown, with Joseph Planta.
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Sum Yung Guys by Edwin Lee (2014).
Click to buy this book: Sum Yung Guys [1] |
Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:
I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.
There’s a wonderful new memoir out that’s a great history of one man’s life in Vancouver’s Chinatown and beyond. Edwin Lee was born in Vancouver in July 1936. His family was instrumental in the development of Vancouver’s Chinatown going back to the Gold Rush in the latter part of the 19th century. Mr. Lee, who joins me now, has written a book: Sum Yung Guys, and has told his story, his families, his friends, and those around him. It’s a life that’s been prosperous, fun, and fulfilling, but it’s a life that’s not been without its tragedies, heartbreak, and tensions, be they social or otherwise. Edwin Lee took on this book project as a way of telling his kids and grandkids about his life, and their past, but what he’s done is given the reader a great view onto what life was like in this city from the late 1930s onwards. He lovingly and meticulously recreates a simpler time, and throughout offers lessons he’s learned through his own life, lessons that are worth heeding for a more fulfilling, more enjoyable life. There’s a lot of wisdom here, not just from Edwin, but from the generations before him. His background is Chinese Canadian, but it is a story that’s quintessentially Canadian. People can buy the book from his website: www.edwinlee.shawwebspace.ca [2]. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in studio as it were, Edwin Lee; Mr. Lee, good morning.
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