Author Fills Coeur d'Alene Library Community Room

Jamie Ford, author of "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" spoke to an audience of 180 people Wednesday, March 16, in the Community Room at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library. Earlier in the day, the author responded to questions from regional teens during a program at Lake City High School. Ford's visit was supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council with support from Friends of the Library at Coeur d'Alene, Hayden and Post Falls.

 

Minidoka Exhibit at Coeur d'Alene Library

A touring exhibit created by the National Park Service about the Minidoka Relocation Center, an internment camp that held Japanese-American families during World War II, is currently on display at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front. The exhibit is traveling regionally among libraries participating in Our Region Reads.

Jamie Ford Arrives in North Idaho

Jamie Ford, author of "The Hotel on the Corner of the Bitter and Sweet," addresses book club members at a reception Tuesday, March 15, at the Post Falls Library. This event was the first of a series of activities planned for the author who is North Idaho as part of Our Region Reads, a cooperative project by area libraries.

Author Jamie Ford Scheduled for Several North Idaho Events

Jamie Ford, author of “The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” – the 2011 title for the Our Region Reads project – is scheduled to attend several events in North Idaho in connection with the regional community read.
The primary public activity will be Wednesday, March 16, when Ford will be at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library at 7 p.m. in the Community Room. The author will speak, answer questions, and will be available to sign copies of his book. Admission is free.
Ford’s novel tells the story of Henry Lee, a boy of Chinese heritage who is 11 years old growing up in Seattle when the attack on Pearl Harbor marks the entrance of the United States into World War II. But it is also the story of Henry Lee late in his life when a surprising discovery in the old Panama Hotel in Seattle brings back memories of a time when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and sent to internment camps.
The background music for “Hotel” is the sound of jazz being played in Seattle’s clubs and homes in the 1940s.
Prior to his presentation at the Coeur d’Alene Library Ford is scheduled to speak to the area high school students at Lake City High School. A discussion about the book by the 3Cs Book Club will be held Wednesday at the Coeur d'Alene Resort and will be led by Virginia Johnson. On Tuesday the author was greeted by a reception at the Post Falls Library with representatives from several area book clubs.
Upcoming public Our Region Reads activities include:

March 18, 7:00 p.m.(doors open 6:30 p.m.): “Bitter Sweet Memories: Music of the Second World War” with vocals by Ruth Pratt, Jacklin Cultural Center, 405 William St., Post Falls, tickets $20, art@thejaclincenter.org, 208-4578950.

March 23, 10:15 a.m.: Pageturners Library Book Club, discussion “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” open to any adult reader, free, Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room, 702 E. Front Ave., 208-769-2315.

March 23, 7 p.m.: Living Voices – “Within the Silence:” A one-woman show characterizing the forced relocation of Japanese-American to internment camps, Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room, free, 208-769-2315.

March 24, 1:30 p.m., “Within the Silence:” A one-woman show characterizing the forced relocation of Japanese-American to internment camps, Post Falls Library, 821 N. Spokane St., free. 208-773-1506.

Discussion Guide for "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet"

The Pageturners Library Book Club will discuss “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” on Wednesday, March 23, at 10:15 a.m. in the Community Room at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library,

702 E. Front Ave.

. The discussion will be led by Virginia Johnson. Here is the discussion guide she has prepared.

The discussion is open to any adult reader. No registration is required.

“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” tells the story of Henry Lee, a boy of Chinese heritage who is eleven years old growing up in Seattle when the attack on Pearl Harbor marks the entrance of the United States into World War II.  But it is also the story of Henry Lee later in his life when a surprising discovery in the old Panama Hotel brings back memories of a time when Japanese-Americans were rounded up and sent to intern-ment camps.

Among the awards presented to this novel are the following:

            2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature

            2010 Washington State Book Award Finalist

            2009 Montana Book Award

            2009 Borders Original Voices Selection

            2009 Director’s Mention, Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction

            2009 Book Browsers Favorite Book Award Runner Up

ABOUT JAMIE FORD

Jamie Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated in 1865 from Kaiping, China, to San Francisco, where he adopted the Western name, “Ford.”   Ford grew up in Oregon and near Seattle’s International District, studied as an illustrator and copywriter before turning his attention to fiction.  He is an award-winning short story writer, an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and a survivor of Orson Scott Card’s Literary Boot Camp. His second novel, Songs from the Book of Souls, should, he says, “be hitting shelves sometime in 2012.”  He lives in Montana with his family, wife Leesha and their blended family.

SOME QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

1. How believable is it for a twelve-year-old to meet and later remember the “love of his life”?
2. What attitudes toward immigrants are still present in the U. S. today? 
3. Do generational differences and struggles like those between Henry and his father and Henry and his son still exist? Examples?
4. Why is Henry’s father so mean to him?
5. How would the novel differ if jazz were not a component of it?  Would any other kind of music have worked just as well?
6. Tell about a time when you experienced the phenomenon Henry describes on page 115:  “When the music played, it didn’t seem to make a lick of difference if your last name was Abernathy or Anjou, Kung or Kobayashi.”
7. Where – if at all – did you find humor in this story?
8. Jamie Ford suggests that to “hear” the song, “Alley Cat Strut,” you should listen “something of that era played VERY LOUD. Too often we think of jazz as background music, rather than headlining performances.”  Which song of the 1940s would you choose as your “Alley Cat Strut”?”

P.S.  Here is the list of songs and their performers Jamie Ford suggests as the “sound track for the novel”:

“On the Sunny Side of the Street,” Sidney Becket

“I’m Through with Love,”  Arthur Prysock

“Them There Eyes,” Billie Holliday

“When I Fall in Love,” Nat King Cole

“Perdido” the Quintet (Live at Massey Hall)

“Blues in the Night,” Kansas City Band               

“My Man’s Gone Now,” Sarah Vaughan

“If,” Jane Monheit

“And So It Goes,” Karrin Allyson

“Whatever Possessed Me,” Chet Baker

            “My One and Only Love,” Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane

9. Of  major elements of design of the novel—plot, character, setting, point of view—which would you say stands out most?
10. Is this, as one reader called it, “an implausible love story”?  Or as another said, is it “as saccharine and overly sentimental as the title suggests”?  Explain.
11. As he prepares to bury his father and marry Ethel, Henry thinks “he’d do what he always did, find the sweet among the bitter.”  When does he always do that?

SOME SOURCES

www.randomhouse.com/highschool (excellent guide with additional readings about the period, including movies)

www.jamieford.com (an excellent source of information about and comments by Ford; good way to get to know him)

www.readinggroupguides.com/guides_Hotel_corner_bitter_sweet

www.litlovers.com/guide_hotel_bitter_sweet

“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.”  Kirkus Review 76 (20): 1086. 2008-10-15

“Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.” Publishers Weekly 255 (37): 40.  2008-90-15

Clouther, Kevin (2008-11-15).  “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.”  Booklist 105 (6):27

Burkhart, Joanna M.  (10/1/2008) “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” Library Journal 133 (16):56

Priscilla Wegars Program

Dr. Priscilla Wegars speaking at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library Saturday, March 12. She is the author of “Imprisoned in Paradise: Japanese Road Workers at the Kooskia Internment Camp.”

Priscilla Wegars Programs Begin in Libraries

Author Priscilla Wegars is presenting programs at regional libraries as part of the 2011 Our Region Reads project.

Her presentation is “Imprisoned in Paradise: Japanese Road Workers at the Kooskia Internment Camp,” which is also the title of one of her books.
Wegars tells the story of this obscure and virtually forgotten World War II facility. The Immigration and Naturalization Service-run camp held “enemy aliens” of Japanese ancestry from Idaho and other states as well as from Mexico, Panama, and Peru. Her talk includes information from both internees and employees to illustrate camp experiences.
Wegars is a historian and historical archeologist who has worked on excavations in Idaho, Washington, England, New Zealand, and Belize. She received her doctorate at the University of Idaho and is the author of several books.
Her local presentations will include:
► Tuesday, March 8, 7 p.m., Hayden Library.
► Wednesday, March 9, 6 p.m., Spirit Lake Library.
► Thursday, March 10, 7 p.m., Post Falls Library.
► Friday, March 11, 6 p.m., Athol Library.
► Saturday, March 12, 2 p.m., Coeur d’Alene Public Library.
► Saturday, March 12, 5 p.m., Pinehurst Library.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council as part of the "We the People Initiative" of the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from the Friends of the Library at Post Falls, Hayden and Coeur d’Alene libraries.

Libraries Offer Drawing for Concert Tickets

Tickets for “Bitter Sweet Memories,” a concert featuring the songs of World War II at the Jacklin Arts and Cultural Center, are going fast, but regional libraries are offering patrons an opportunity for free tickets.
Winners in the drawing will be selected Friday, March 11, but there is still time to visit a participating library to fill out an entry slip. Participating libraries include those in the Community Library Network, Athol, Harrison, Hayden, Pinehurst, Post Falls, Rathdrum, and Spirit Lake; and the Coeur d’Alene Public Library.
“Bitter Sweet Memories” will feature the vocals of popular area singer Ruth Pratt. The concert is Friday, March 18, at the Jacklin Center, 405 William St., Post Falls. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the concert begins at 7. Call 208-457-8950.
This concert is offered in conjunction with Our Region Reads and is made possible thought the support of BankCDA and Susan and Duane Jacklin.

HREI Brings ‘Within the Silence’ to Schools, Libraries

The experience of a Japanese-American family forced to relocate and live in an internment camp will be shared at North Idaho schools and libraries in conjunction with the series of programs for Our Region Reads.

Lily Gladstone

Performances of “Within the Silence,” a one-woman play produced as part of the Living Voices series from Seattle are sponsored locally by the Human Rights Education Institute (HREI) and will be presented Tuesday through Thursday, March 22-24.

“Within the Silence” will be performed for students at Prairie View, Borah, Hayden Meadows, Dalton, Sorenson, and Twin Lakes elementary schools, and at Lake City High School over the three-day run. Free public performances are offered Wednesday, March 23, 7 p.m., at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, 702 E. Front. Ave., and Thursday, March 24, 7 p.m., at the Post Falls Library,

821 N. Spokane Ave.

  

In 1942 FDR’s Executive order 9066 imprisoned thousands of loyal American families of Japanese descent living on the West Coast. They were removed to internment camps in the American West including sites in Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

“Within the Silence” tells the story of Emiko Yamada, a teen-age girl growing up in Seattle's “Nihonmachi” (Japantown). When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Emi and her family are the victims of anti-Japanese  hysteria. The story follows the Yamadas as they are forced to sell or give away their possessions and home; as Emi’s father is separated from the family; and as they are removed to the internment camp at Minidoka.

Emiko is portrayed by Lily Gladstone, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in acting and a minor in Native American Studies from the University of Montana in 2008.  Most recently, she completed a year-long tour with the Montana Repertory Theatre's production of Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird.” 

The Seattle-based Living Voices ensemble was created in 1992 and tours several productions examining life and history in the United States through multimedia performances.

 The HREI was created in 1998 to provide proactive human rights education to promote tolerance, reduce prejudice, and encourage appreciation of diversity in the region.  Since then, HREI has worked hard to achieve its mission of inspiring transformation and promoting human rights through education and raising awareness in our community. HREI promotes human rights by developing and presenting school programs, sponsoring events that celebrate diversity, and providing workshops and trainings for community members, business leaders and educators. 

Our Region Reads: Let’s Read, Let’s Talk

Author of ‘Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Coming’ to North Idaho in March

Editor's Note: This article was published on the front page of the North Idaho Life section of the Coeur d'Alene Press on Friday, Feb. 25.



Author Jamie Ford in Bud’s Jazz Records in Seattle. The store closed in 2008.



The libraries of North Idaho have joined forces for Our Region Reads – a reading program designed to encourage area residents to read and talk about books by focusing on a single title and author each year.

The selection for 2011 is “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” by Jamie Ford, a novel about a boy of Chinese heritage growing up in Seattle at the beginning of WWII and his relationship with a Japanese-American girl who would be caught up in the forced relocation of Japanese families.

The background music for “Hotel” is the sound of jazz being played in Seattle’s clubs and homes in the 1940s.

Ford is the great-grandson of Nevada mining pioneer Min Chung, who emigrated from Kaiping, China, to San Francisco in 1865, where he adopted the western name “Ford,” thus confusing countless generations. An award-winning short-story writer, Ford is an alumnus of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers and a survivor of Orson Card’s Literary Boot Camp.  Having grown up near Seattle’s Chinatown, he now lives in Montana.

Ford will come to North Idaho in March as part of the related programs that will also look at the region’s role in World War Two, jazz, the Japanese Internment, the influence of Asian cultures in the Inland Northwest, and any number of related subjects.  

The author recently responded to questions about his work and background:

Press: Your character Henry Lee was the only Chinese student in his school and was subject to bullying by fellow students and sometimes hostility from his teachers. Did you experience anything like this growing up? And if so, how did you respond.

Jamie: I always feel like this is where I’m supposed to reveal some great Horatio Alger moment of my childhood, but honestly, I really didn’t encounter much bullying or racism, at least not to the degree depicted in the book—probably because my last name is Ford, which can be confusing. Plus my dad was fairly well known, and he taught martial arts to police officers. That knowledge always helps in the bully-prevention department. Though there was one summer when my family traveled to Arkansas (where my mother was from). I remember my parents warning me that people might stare or say things—there was definitely a concern about my father, a Chinese man, and his Caucasian wife traveling to the “deep south.”

Press: Did members of your family ever talk about their experiences during WWII? What was their attitude toward the relocation and internment of Japanese-Americans?

Jamie: My dad wore one of the “I Am Chinese” buttons depicted in the book. His cousins did as well. He talked about walking to school and kids throwing rocks at him and calling him a “Jap” — that kind of thing. He would end up throwing the rocks back and getting into fistfights. He also talked about going to school and seeing a lot of empty desks after his Japanese classmates had been taken away. But I don’t think there was a lot of enmity toward the Japanese in my immediate family. My dad’s cousin married a Japanese woman, and my dad married a woman who was by my definition, “Betty Crocker White.” We were ahead of the curve, I guess.

Press: When you were living in Seattle was the Japanese-American removal and the elimination of Japantown discussed as part of the local history?

Jamie: There’s definitely an institutional memory of the Internment in Seattle—especially since there are so many families living there who were directly affected by it –  either Japanese families, or their neighbors, classmates, co-workers, etc. But it can still be a delicate subject. There was a wall of silence that began to crumble in the ’80s, with reparations, and the next generation finally asking questions. 

Press: Jazz plays a big role in “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.” Is this also one of your passions?

Jamie: I get asked that a lot. Honestly, (true confession time), I’m more of a blues guy — I love Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal, Eric Bibb, etc. But I do have a fascination with the jazz scene at the time. Back when Count Bassie and Duke Ellington would hit Seattle on a West Coast swing. Back then jazz was vibrant and alive — there were jazz orchestras, which later became quartets, and shrank to trios, and tinkling piano bars. Now when you think of jazz in Seattle you tend to think of Kenny G, which breaks my heart.

Press: What was involved in your research about life in Japantown and later in the relocation camps? Did you visit any of the places where the camps were located?

Jamie: I had visited Minidoka and knew how arid that part of Idaho is — and it was even more so back then, when it was dry farmland, sans irrigation. And I had been to the Puyallup Fairgrounds countless times, but had never known it had once been a temporary detention center. But beyond the places themselves, I spent a lot of time doing research at the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, and also joined Densho, a foundation dedicated to preserving the oral history of the Internment. Both were incredible resources.

Press: What influenced you to become a writer?

Jamie: I actually labored in the salt mines of advertising for years. But in advertising you’re really selling your creative soul by the pound. So I began writing fiction on the side, just so I’d have this creative sandbox unrelated to my day-job — for my own sanity. I found that I wanted to spend more and more time in that sandbox, until ultimately, I moved into the sandbox.

Press: What is the most challenging thing for you about being an author?

Jamie: Well, as I’m writing this I’m sitting on an airplane bound for Florida. Keeping up with all the travel has been a challenge — as a newbie author I’m profoundly grateful for all the attention HOTEL has received, but I do have those moments where I wake up and have to remember what city I’m in. 

Press: Who were the authors you enjoyed reading as you were growing up and who are you reading now?

Jamie: People often ask if I grew up reading Raymond Carver, since I lean toward minimalism in my writing, and my answer is always, “No, I read that other great minimalist, Isaac Asimov.” I read tons of Science Fiction as a kid, and comics too — so Stan Lee was my hero. But I’m also a theater geek, so I read Shakespeare. (Instead of a wedding reception we took 70 people to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”).

These days my favorite authors are probably Pat Conroy and Sherman Alexie, though the one author that has haunted my imagination from adolescence to adulthood is the great Harlan Ellison.

Press: You live in Montana now. What is your life like there? Is there anything in particular about the area that interests you as a writer.

Jamie: Living in Great Falls, Montana is like living in 1977, which if you think about it, was a fantastic year: “Star Wars” premiered, the Atari was born, and the Clash’s first album was released. It’s like perpetually living in the best year of my childhood. Plus, I travel so much for book events anyway that I get my big city fix on the regular; it’s nice to come home and be off the grid. There are a lot of writers in Montana. It’s where we go to hide.

Press: What are you working on now?

Jamie: I just finished editing my second book, which was like giving birth to a nine-pound baby, sideways. But it’s finally delivered. It’s another historical, multi-cultural love story, set in Seattle and Japan. It’s tentatively titled “Songs from the Book of Souls.”

No release date yet, but I think we’re looking at early 2012, so stay tuned…

More information about Jamie Ford can be found at his website: http://www.jamieford.com/my-debut-novel-from-ballantine/

Our Region Reads Calendar of Events

Minidoka Camp Exhibit Touring Regional Libraries: Through March

Historian Robert Sims: Idaho Humanities Speakers Bureau, “Minidoka Internment Camp.” Feb. 24, 3 p.m., Golden Spike Community Center; Feb. 25, 3 p.m., Spirit Lake Library, 6 p.m. Athol Library; Feb. 26, 2 p.m.,  Hayden Library.

Priscilla Wegars: Idaho Humanities Speakers Bureau, "Imprisoned in Paradise:

Jamie Ford discussion with area book group members: (by invitation only), March 15, 2 p.m., Post Falls Library.

Jamie Ford Q&A with local high school students: March 16, 9 a.m., Lake City High School.

3Cs Book Club Discussion: March 16, 10 a.m., Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Jamie Ford Discussion and Q&A: March 16, 7 p.m., Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room.

Bitter Sweet Memories: Music of the Second World War with vocals by Rut Pratt, March 18, 7:00 p.m., Jacklin Cultural Center, Post Falls, tickets $20.

Pageturners Library Book Club: Discussion (open to any adult reader), March 23, 10:15 a.m., Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room.

 Living Voices – “Within the Silence:” A one-woman show characterizing the forced relocation of Japanese-American to internment camps. Sponsored by the Human Rights Education Institute, March 23, 11 a.m., Dalton Elementary School; 1 p.m. Sorenson Magnet School; 7 p.m., public program Coeur d’Alene Library Community Room. March 24, 1:30 p.m., Twin Lakes School, 7 p.m., public program Post Falls Library.

Our Region Reads is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council as part of the "We the People Initiative" of the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from the Friends of the Library at Post Falls, Hayden and Coeur d’Alene libraries. Community Partners include the Jacklin Cultural Center and the Human Rights Education Institute. Additional information about Our Region Reads is available at www.ourregionreads.blogspot.com.

Japanese Road

Workers at the Kooskia Internment Camp." March 8, 7 p.m., Hayden Library; March 9, 6 p.m., Spirit Lake Library; March 10, 7 p.m., Post Falls Library; March 11, 6 p.m., Athol Library; March 12, 2 p.m., Coeur d’Alene Library, 5 p.m., Pinehurst Library.

Programs Share Life in Internment Camp

       History professor Robert Sims, with the Idaho Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, offers a presentation on the Minidoka Internment Camp in four communities as part of the Our Region Reads project.

Robert Sims



Sims will speak and present a slideshow at 3 p.m., Feb. 24 at the Golden Spikes Community Center, 8580 W. Yosemite, in Rathdrum; 3 p.m., Feb. 25 at the Spirit Lake Library,

32575 N. Fifth Ave.

; 6 p.m., Feb. 25, at the Athol Library, 30399 Third St.; and at 2 p.m., Feb. 26, at the Hayden Library, 8385 N. Government Way.

During World War II the United States Government removed the entire Japanese American population from the West Coast and relocated them to 10 camps in the interior. One of these camps was Camp Minidoka in south central Idaho. This camp was also called Hunt, and held nearly 10,000 people of Japanese ancestry during the war.

This camp had a great impact on Idaho during the war years and was an important part of both Idaho and United States History. In 2001, it was designated as a National Monument, and plans are being developed for the site.

Sims is professor of History Emeritus and former Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs at Boise State University. He received his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Colorado.

Sims received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in Ethnic Studies at Columbia University. He served on the Idaho Humanities Council for four years and has participated in many projects funded by the NEH and the Idaho Humanities Council, including multi-state projects dealing with ethnic groups in the west.

He has served as a consultant to the Four Rivers Cultural Center, Ontario, Ore., and now serves on the board of the Friends of Minidoka, a support group for the Minidoka Interment National Monument. In 2004 he received the Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities award, given annually by the IHC.

Our Region Reads is a cooperative effort by area libraries to encourage the residents of North Idaho to read together a shared book and to enjoy educational and cultural events related to that book. The selection for 2011 is “The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” by Jamie Ford.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council as part of the "We the People Initiative" of the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from the Friends of the Library at Post Falls, Hayden and Coeur d’Alene libraries. Information about Our Region Reads is available at local libraries.



A Walking Tour of 'Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet' Sites

Click on the image for a larger view.