This close-up look at the oldest Chinatown in North America brings readers to a deeper understanding of this iconic destination. Evan’s images capture the diversity and humanity of the densest urban neighborhood west of Manhattan. Leong’s concentrated profiles of select Chinatown residents introduce the reader to voices of the community. Intro: A Worthwhile Hassle
Dick Evans is a San Francisco resident photographer with an interest in documenting the colorful and rapidly changing neighborhoods of the city. Born into a ranching family in Eugene, Oregon, he graduated as an engineer from Oregon State University and subsequently obtained a master’s degree in management from Stanford. He has spent a fifty-year career in the global metals sector, living in five countries and multiple locations in Africa, Europe, and North America. It was during these travels that he developed an appreciation for the diversity and richness of different cultures–both global and local–and an interest in documentary photography. Chinatown is his third book.
Kathy Chin Leong, a lifetime career journalist, covers travel, technology, business, art and architecture, and anything that piques her interest. Her writing has been published in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, National Geographic Books, Sunset Magazine, and other nationally recognized publications. Growing up in a bi-cultural environment, Chinese at home and American at school, she is typical of many ABCs who struggled with identity issues and eventually learned to embrace their Chinese heritage. While she has travelled the globe to the Middle East, Europe, and Asia, rediscovering her Chinatown roots through collaboration on this book has been the journey of a lifetime. She lives in Sunnyvale, California.