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Sherri Rosen interviews three authors from diverse cultural backgrounds. Each inspires her in a different way.
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I have gone to BEA (Book Expo America) at the Javits Center, NYC, off and on through the years. This year I had a wonderful idea of adding some humanity to BEA and decided to interview some male authors who really inspired me for The Good Men Project. I have chosen three different authors, with three different cultural backgrounds, interviewing them on why they were inspired to write their books. The authors are: Baker Dan, author of Beating Arthritis: Alternative Cooking; Ryan Chin, author of Without Rain There Can Be No Rainbows; and Mario T. Garcia, author of The Latino Generation: Voices of the New America.
The Book Expo America is the largest annual book trade fair in the United States. It’s held in a major city every May or June. Last year was the first year they decided to open it up to the general public on the very last day of the Expo. Previously it was mainly for people in the publishing industry. And, this year it will also be open to the public on the last day. Dates are: Wed., May 28th thru Saturday, May 31st 2014.
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Inspiring Others by Helping Himself:
Baker Dan, author of Beating Arthritis: Alternative Cooking
What is your name and where where you born?
My pen name is Baker Dan; my formal name is Dan Shaham, Ph.D. I was born in Haifa, Israel, 1955.
When did you come to the NYC? Why did you come? Was it hard for you as a male immigrant coming to NYC?
I came with my wife Tal in June 1989 to do my Masters in Early Childhood Education at Banks Street College of Education in Manhattan. Later on I did a Ph.D. at NYU in Early Childhood and Elementary Education and earned my degree in 2003.
Why did you write your book, Beating Arthritis: Alternative Cooking?
Since I started my diet I had received repeated requests from people who were interested in the way that I coped with my Palindromic Rheumatoid Arthritis. Five years ago, after I have finished talking at length to a woman who needed my help I said to myself: “Why don’t you sit down and write a book about your method,” so this is how it started.
How long have you been dealing with Palindromic Rheumatoid Arthritis?
I have been dealing with PRA for 18 years.
Has this disease caused you to have many surgeries to replace the joints et al that have been eaten away by arthritis?
You need luck also with your diseases: My joints were not affected, which is often the case with PRA.
You are not a medical doctor but a Doctor of Philosophy in Education. What qualifies you to create a cookbook telling folks they can beat arthritis? Does that mean they will be cured?
The book was written from a patient’s point of view. I am a pastry chef by training and a Ph.D. in education. The Baker Dan’s method is of reducing and preventing inflammation through self-study and medically-supervised diet change. My idea is, the medical world is divided regarding the question of arthritis and food. Some believe that there is no connection, and some believe that there is. I belong to the latter camp because diet-change helped me prevent arthritic inflammation. There is no cure for arthritis, only prevention. Beating Arthritis is an attitude of never giving up, and doing what you can to prevent and reduce inflammation.
What are your specific recommendations for folks following these recipes in your book?
Consulting a nutritionist or your doctor, start with a cleansing diet and then gradually add ingredients that do not cause inflammation. Keep a log of your self-study including the times that you have inflammation and need to take medication. Do not take this road by yourself but with your medical team.
How important is it to eat foods that don’t cause inflammation?
The trade-off is simple: Either you are constantly on medication and suffering the side effects, or taking less medication, has a clearer mind, and less harm to your body and soul.
Is this book just for folks that are plagued with arthritis?
No, the method of self-study with a medically-supervised diet-change is applicable to any disease that is food related such as Crohn’s, Celiac, or Diabetes.
Is there any way folks can contact you if they have questions about their specific ailments regarding your book?
Yes, people can email me at dan@bakerdan.com.
What are your hopes for people who buy this book?
I hope that the book will help to reduce or prevent inflammations. I also hope that the book will inspire people to take action and use their knowledge of themselves to better their medical condition instead of solely relying on medication.
With all that you’ve had to deal with in your personal health, how have you kept up such a positive and inspiring attitude?
I happen to be an observant person. My faith gives me a lot of strength. I do not fight with my creator, but instead thank Him for whatever he has given me and use my knowledge in order to bring change.
What is the one last thing you want people to know who are dealing with these severe health issues?
Do not keep it to yourself. Seek medical and human help. The loneliness of fighting any fight is sometimes much harder than the fight itself. Use your own knowledge and self-discipline to better your situation. Stay positive and be thankful. Every new day.
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Baker Dan specializes in alternative cooking and baking. In 2007 he formed Baker Dan, LLC, beginning with specialty cookies. He lives with his family in Manhattan and Warrensburg, NY. This is a series of many more books to come.
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Finding Healing and Creativity in a Foreign Land:
Ryan Chin, author of Without Rain There Can Be No Rainbows
What inspired the title and for you to write this book?
Even though the title is a common quote, for some reason I’d never heard it until I lived in New Zealand. It was written in Maori (Mena Kore E heke mai te ua, Ehara te Kopere) on the school’s weekly newsletter where I worked as a teacher. At the time I was mourning the loss of my first dog and in retrospect, I was also dealing with unresolved feelings from losing my brother a decade earlier. When I saw that quote, it fit perfectly because if I didn’t lose my dog I’d never have gone to New Zealand.
I think on the surface the inspiration to write the book came from my creativity being released in New Zealand. When I lived there I started writing, started carving, and started editing video. Most everyone I met there had some type of creative outlet. It made me realize how much we pedestal art and artists here in the United States. In general, I think our society relies too much on being educated instead of just doing and learning. Of course there are plenty of self-taught musicians, painters, writers, and artists here but for the most part, people have an attitude that they have to go to school to be creative. In America the children I taught constantly asked me how to draw a dog or how to draw a fish. In New Zealand, the kids just drew. They just did it. It was a noticeable difference. It made me realize how quickly we can stamp out the creative spirit or make it a non-priority in daily living. So when I returned from New Zealand, I quit teaching and began writing and editing video.
Deeper inspirations came from my need to heal. When I arrived in New Zealand alone still mourning the loss of my first dog it brought up all kinds of hurt from losing my brother. Writing the book and editing the videos was one of the final steps I needed to move on. One of the videos is a promo for Be The Match, an organization that helps people with leukemia find bone marrow donors. Editing that video was very hard but I needed to do it.
Being an Asian American from San Francisco how did the locals take to you in New Zealand?
Here’s a quote from the first chapter of my book that partially answers this question: “…Like many other New Zealanders I’ve met, he seems momentarily thrown off by an Asian dude with an American accent. Even in Auckland and Wellington, the two largest cities, many people have assumed I don’t understand English well. In the smaller towns, I’ve gotten a few Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan catcalls.”
A lot of Japanese go to New Zealand to study English so I think that was part of the reason why people assumed I didn’t understand English well when I was in the Auckland. As far as my treatment in the rural area where I taught, I think that “my not from here status” helped me live in the small Maori community without conflict. It gave me a completely neutral status with the locals. In the book I detail the gang culture in the area where I lived and how local pride and identity sometimes crossed the line into madness. The two teachers who taught at the school previously had vacated their positions because they felt threatened by the locals. Having that neutral status helped me as people were curious about the Chinese guy teaching their children. Of course, my personality helped too as I relish tossing myself into situations where I meet people whose belief systems are different than my own. I also have a knack for giving back the right amount of shit when presented with people giving me shit.
Here’s another excerpt: “I was in a bar in Auckland one night when a monster Maori man sarcastically mimicked an Asian language, attempting to get a rise out of me. I looked up—and up—at him, unflinchingly, straight in the eye because I knew he’d respect that, and replied, “Kia ora, koe Ryan ahou!”—Maori for “Hello, my name is Ryan!” Then, in the instant before he would have pummeled me, I smiled, extended my hand, and said, “Sweet as, mate!”
What made you choose New Zealand?
I’m a surfer and fly fisher so New Zealand was on the list for many years as a recreational destination. It has amazing surf and it’s a top destination for fly fisherman. When I became a teacher in my mid-twenties, I knew it was something I wanted to take overseas. I had a lot of well-traveled friends in San Francisco that motivated me to think about taking an adventure, but I didn’t want to simply travel to another country. I wanted to live somewhere different for a prolonged period of time. Teaching is one of those professions that intertwine you into a community. As a teacher you see a community’s triumphs and challenges. You feel the history of the children. I thought about teaching in New Zealand for many years but would never leave my dog. When I discovered he had liver disease, I took it as a sign and left for New Zealand a month after laying his ashes to rest.
What grade did you teach and how long did you live there?
In San Francisco I taught 1st grade and 2nd grade. In New Zealand I taught a fifth grade class for two months and then a mixed grade of Kindergarten through 4th grade. I lived in New Zealand for 16 months.
Did it take a long time to find work? How did you do it?
Yes and no. It depends what your perception of a long time is. It definitely felt like a long time to me because I was very depressed when I arrived in New Zealand. Looking back on it, I was very lucky. I landed a temporary substitute position within two months and landed the permanent position after five months. That’s not bad considering I knew no one.
Since there was no designated shortage of elementary teachers it was very challenging. My strategy was to call schools and ask to volunteer for a few days, drop off my resume, and meet people. The first three chapters in the book show how much luck and destiny was involved for me to land the job. Basically I had to convince a school and their hiring committee that I was the one out of all the local applicants. Some schools had hundreds of applicants for an open position. After shining above the rest, the school would have to draft a letter to NZ Immigration explaining why they wanted to hire me instead of a New Zealander. If the letter wasn’t worded right then Immigration could still deny my request for a work permit. That was the case when I applied. I ended up writing my own letter, cutting and pasting letterhead on a park bench, and having a school board member’s wife forge a signature for me. It was one of many twists and turns that led me to Raupunga, the Maori village where I taught.
You definitely seek adventure, what is coming next?
I am a father of two boys ages 4 and 2 so every day is an emotional adventure! As far as a physical adventure goes, I’m hoping to travel back to China in the next five years to retrieve hand carved wood work in the house where my grandpa was born. I visited China eight years ago and road bikes around to my ancestral villages. I shot a lot of video so I have the material for another multimedia memoir. I’m a meager 10,000 words into the China book struggling to find a good structure. The China book will have a lot more history and research involved than the New Zealand book. I think memoir can be the opposite of fiction. Instead of striving for material you have to weed through mountains of material and choose what to share. Anyway, I’m hoping to have the China book done in about five years and revisit China during that time. I’d love to retrofit the woodwork from my grandpa’s old house into a guest room above my garage here in Portland. I was also unsuccessful in finding gold treasure rumored to be left in an ancestral house when the communists took over so I’d like to give that another go. Everyone loves a treasure hunt.
Whatever happened to you and your female friend in SF?
Well, I feel like I’m giving away the ending of the book but she was waiting for me when I got back from New Zealand. We have been together for ten years now and have two beautiful boys.
What do you hope readers will learn from your amazing adventure?
There are lots of mini-lessons to take away from the book: Healing takes time, believe, go for it, get away from the norm, creativity is inherent, respect trumps differences and the list goes on. The book also shows how being a subtle lurker can win over a girl. That’s what I call my method for Lori. I wasn’t stalking. I was subtly lurking!
One reader posted on the book’s FB page that the book changed her life. We hear all the little clichés about how to live life constantly but sometimes we need an experience or a story for us to move forward and live life the way we want to. Although fiction can inspire, there is something about memoir that often hits home.
Putting links to videos you created while in New Zealand within the book was your idea right from the beginning of writing?
No it was not. When I started writing the book I planned to have videos on the book’s website. As I started editing the videos, tablets and e-readers began to take off. It just sort of happened that the timing was ripe for delivering my story in one package. The iBook version for iPads has the two-dozen videos embedded. The iPad version is unavailable right now as I’ve enrolled in Kindle Select for a few months. In the Kindle and ePub versions there are hyperlinks that bring you to the videos. The paper copies have a monitor symbol in the margins indicating that a video accompanies the text. Eventually, I’ll update the paper copy to have QR codes in the margins so a reader can scan and watch the video with more convenience. I made sure to keep the videos short and it took me years to whittle down the raw footage and choose the content for the videos. It was important that the story did not depend on the videos. The written word was still the delivery. Many readers have told me they ripped through the book and watched the videos later. That makes me feel good.
Who would enjoy this book?
I call the book a pet and teacher memoir sandwiched into a travel adventure. With the multiple threads, teachers and dog people would most likely relate to my experiences. But really, anyone who likes memoir, may enjoy my book. One thing I like is that both men and women have enjoyed my story. There’s a fair amount of dude in the book but I also sprinkled in a love story keeping it fun for the ladies. And of course people who like travel and adventure will relate to the experiences I had.
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Ryan Chin is the creator of Without Rain There Can Be No Rainbows, a multimedia memoir about his teaching experience in New Zealand. The book is available at Amazon, and in Portland, OR, at Powell’s Books. His next multimedia memoir, Who Put the Chin in China, will detail his adventures in Southern China as he biked to his ancestral villages. When he’s not wrestling with his two boys, he can be found riding waves or standing in a river waving a stick for trout. He meanders in Portland, OR, with his family, two cats, and Big Head, the yellow lab from down under.
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Putting a Human Face on the Immigration Discussion:
Mario T. Garcia, author of The Latino Generation: Voices of the New America
Where do you live?
Santa Barbara, CA
What inspired you to write this book?
I was inspired to write this book because I wanted to put a human face to the discussion of Latino immigrants and their families as opposed to abstract terms such as “illegal aliens,” “wetbacks,” etc. I want to show Latinos especially the children of the latest wave of Latino immigrants as dynamic young men and women with all of the expectations and dreams of all Americans. I felt that it was time that their voices be heard.
What has been so misleading about the Latino Generation?
What has been misleading is the idea that somehow Latinos including those I address as the Latino Generation—millennials—somehow don’t want to really be Americans; that they want to selfishly just live amongst themselves, speak their own “language,” and practice their own culture. That they are drastically different from other American ethnic experiences. This is all wrong and based on ahistorical notions of who and what Latinos are.
You are the largest minority in the USA. Why has Arizona, Alabama, and Georgia passed anti-immigration laws aimed at Latinos?
These states are undergoing an increase in Latino immigration including more Latino students in the schools. Some in these states fear the unknown and that Latinos are taking jobs away but also that they are threatening the fundamental culture of this country. All of which is untrue.
Why is important for us to know whatever ethnic background we come from, to understand the Latino Generation?
It is important because Latinos represent the largest minority in the country and by 2050 one out of three Americans will be Latinos. In some states, such as California the future has already arrived. This year Latinos became the largest ethnic group in this state outpacing the Anglo American or white population. Moreover, we can’t fully understand American history and culture without understanding the historic Latino role in that history and culture. Latinos are fundamental to the U.S. economy now and will be even more so in the future.
When you state “Latinos”-what specific ethnic groups are you speaking about?
Mexican Americans, Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, Dominican Americans, and all others who are of Latin American descent.
What is the Chicano movement?
The Chicano Movement was the largest civil rights and community empowerment movements by Mexican Americans in U.S. history; it encompassed the late 1960s and 1970s although its legacy still remains.
Why do you feel so many ethnic groups are given such a hard time being accepted into the USA when they have helped build this country?
I think because of a capitalist system that has exploited immigrant and ethnic groups for their cheap labor. They then have been racialized to suggest their racial inferiority that justifies their being kept as unskilled and low-skilled labor. Certainly this has been true of most Latinos such as Mexicans. They have experienced levels of mobility in large part due to their own civil rights struggles to achieve a better education and more access to skilled and professional employment.
You refer to in the book Latinos, Chicanos. Please explain the differences?
Latino is an umbrella term such as Hispanic to cover all people of Latin American ancestry that would include Mexicans, Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, others from the Caribbean, and from South America. Chicano is a term related to Mexican Americans. Its origins seems to have been with some Mexican immigrant workers in the early 20th century. It is a derivation of mexicano. By the 1940s the term is appropriated by U.S. born-Mexican Americans in hardcore urban barrios. In the 1960s the term is further re-appropriated by that generation of Mexican Americans who defiantly use the term as a term of ethnic and cultural resistance as part of the Chicano Movement. Hence, the term becomes politicized. Some still use the term among others. We still have Chicano Studies programs and curriculum.
You interviewed l3 young Latinos for this book? How did you choose them? What is your purpose of showing the reader in this book?
I chose the 13 Latino narrators in the book at random from my classes. Some had visited me during my office hours and as I talked with them, they seemed to have interesting stories. Others I saw in my classes as good students and so invited them to do interviews. Others just purely by chance. In all I interviewed 18 students but cut it to 13 for the book and because I thought they were the most compelling stories. My purpose is to show that Latinos are very much a part of this country who have struggled over the years to be part of it while having to deal with racial, ethnic, class, and gender discrimination. The Latino Generation is a continuation of this experience and struggle but in their own particular way. At a time when Latinos represent the largest minority in the U.S. and that in California they are now the largest ethnic group exceeding Anglo Americans, it is important to know who Latinos are, what their stories are about, what their experiences have been, and what their dreams and aspirations are. My book through the narratives of my former students addresses these issues. They are the voices of a changing American and of the new America.
What do you hope readers will learn after reading this book?
That Latinos are very much a part of the American experience and that they represent in large part the future of this country but that there is nothing to fear or be suspicious about this. Yes, they are changing the country but they are also changing and the result is a new and dynamic American society.
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Mario T. García is Professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. A native of El Paso, Texas, he received his B.A. and M.A. in History at the University of Texas at El Paso. He received his Ph.D. in History at the University of California, San Diego. His latest book published in 2011 is an oral history of Sal Castro and the 1968 Blowouts in Los Angeles entitled Blowout! Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice published by The University of North Carolina Press. It has also just recently been issued as an enhanced e-book.
Prof. Garcia is currently the Director of the Latino Leadership Project under UCSB’s Chicano Studies Institute and the convener of the Chicano/Latino Research Group of the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center at UCSB.
The post Brilliance and Inspiration: 3 Male Authors at Book Expo 2014 appeared first on The Good Men Project.