Friends and family honored Shirley Fong-Torres' life at memorial services in San Francisco on July 24. Her life and vivacious personality touched people worldwide with her books, television appearances, and her Wok Wiz company's daily guided walking and culinary tours of San Francisco's Chinatown and North Beach.   

Shirley was born November 16, 1946 in Oakland, daughter of Connie and the late Ricardo Fong-Torres, and was a graduate of U.C. Berkeley.

She was a teacher in Texas and California, a chef, and after working in marketing for Levi Strauss, she created Wok Wiz in 1985, offering tours, as well as cooking lessons.

Her business drew rave reviews and quickly grew, and she built a staff of tour guides to meet demand. She wrote such books as San Francisco Chinatown: A Walking Tour, The Chinese Kitchen, Wok Wiz Chinese Cookbook, and The Woman Who Ate Chinatown. Shirley wrote articles for many food and travel publications and frequently appeared on radio and television including The Food Channel, History and Discovery Channels, and inflight for Hawaiian Airlines, Qantas Airlines and JetBlue.

She was active in many community groups and often served on the board of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau. She had homes in San Francisco and Pacifica.

She and her former husband, Richard Dong, were the parents of Tina Dong Pavao, and she was a vivacious, fun-loving grandmother to Tina’s two daughters with Matt Pavao, Maggie and Stella....

Update April 11, 2012

The U.S. military announced today that the trials of the eight U.S. soldiers implicated in the death of 19 year old U.S. Army Private Danny Chen have been moved to U.S. soil. The trials will be held at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, if senior military officials decide courts-martial are warranted. Fort Bragg's commanders have accepted jurisdiction in the case.

A miliary investigator has recommended courts-martial for all of the soldiers.

"We are relieved and pleased," said Elizabeth R. OuYang, president of the New York chapter of civil rights group Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), which has been lobbying the military for a change in jurisdiction to the United States, rather than in Afghanistan.  

Chen's relatives say he was subjugated to brutal hazing before he apparently committed suicide Oct. 3, 2011. Investigators are reviewing allegations that Chen was subjected to weeks of physical abuse, humilation and racial slurs by members of his unit in Afghanistan before he apparently killed himself.

A nationwide grass-roots campaign has raised awareness of Private Danny Chen's case. 

In a separate case, on October 27, 2011 several Marines were ordered to face court-martial on charges they physically abused and humiliated fellow Marine, 21 year old Asian American Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew. Lew wrote a suicide note to his mother before shooting himself while on patrol in Afghanistan on April 3, 2011. Lew was born and raised in Santa...

Tony Award winner and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) is having a banner summer in Chicago, where three of his plays are being produced.

From June 14-July 17, the Silk Road Theatre Project is presenting the Chicago premiere of Hwang’s semi-autobiographical Yellow Face, directed by Steve Scott at The Historic Chicago Temple Building in collaboration with the Goodman Theatre; from June 18-July 24, the Goodman Theatre is presenting the world premiere of Hwang’s Chinglish, a razor-sharp new comedy about the challenges of doing business in a culture worlds apart from our own, directed by Leigh Silverman in the Albert Theatre; and from August 11-September 4, the Halcyon Theatre is presenting Hwang’s Family Devotions, a comedy where chaos ensues when three generations of an Asian-American family welcome their patriarch from Communist China, directed by Jennifer Adams at the Greenhouse Theater Center.

How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rose Hemingway and Tony winner John Larroquette were greeted by Rich Weiner, Regional Vice President of Stores for Lord & Taylor, as they stepped out on Fifth Ave on June 23, 2011, for the unveiling of the Lord & Taylor Flagship Store Fifth Avenue windows filled with fashions inspired by their successful Broadway revival.

On the day of the unveiling, the first 75 customers to spend $300 or more in cosmetics received vouchers for a pair of tickets to the show. Customers spending $75 in the cosmetic/fragrance department also received a CD of the 2011 Broadway Revival Cast Recording of How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

May 1, 2012
by Suzanne Joe Kai

Jeremy Lin continues to recover from his left knee surgery but
due to pain felt in his knee after his first one-to-one practice
drill, he's not likely to return before Game 4 at the earliest. 

On Saturday, the New York Knicks point guard participated
in his first one-to-one drills since he had surgery April 2 to repair
a meniscus tear in his left knee.  

Doctors have estimated that it would take six weeks
from the date of his surgery before his knee is recovered
enough to play basketball. His rehab has been encouraging
also he has reported soreness in his knee yesterday
after his one-to-one practise.  

Last week he tweeted when he started jogging:

"Great team win in ATL. And i jogged slowly (but not as slow as
Steve Novak (@stevenovak20) for the first time since surgery..its
been a great day so far! - Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) April 22, 2012"

Meanwhile, Jeremy's star is not fading off the court,
he was just named to the #1 spot on Time Magazine's annual list
of The 100 Most Influential People in the World.  
Time's list is on the newstands now, its the April 30, 2012 edition.

You will want to pick up a copy of Time Magazine's The 100 Most 
Influential People in the World issue just to see the magnificent photo 
of Jeremy airborne with a basketball in the palm of his right hand,
his left arm deftly blocking his opponent as he prepares to score 
another point for his team.

Also, there's a...