The New Suzie

Last month I interviewed pioneering actress Nancy Kwan. She made it big in The World of Suzie Wong, where she plays a prostitute with a heart of gold. I caught up with her as she celebrated 50 years in show business. A documentary on her life was being shown where she talks about losing her only son to AIDS. I interviewed her about AIDS awareness in the Asian community.

This, of course, got me thinking about a writing project called The New World of Suzie W. It'll be a modern take of this Asian woman, dealing with her crumbling life. Instead of Hong Kong, she lives in Silverlake. Instead of prostituting, she's an aging artist forced to whore her creativity. Hmmmm.

AIDS at 30

Wasn't there supposed to be a cure by now? It's been 30 years since AIDS entered our conciousness. There's been a lot of discussion about it. The fine journalist Karen Ocamb asked me to write a personal essay on AIDS. I chose to remember my friend James Sakakura (pictured above). Here's my contribution:

My standard of beauty at the time was some white guy. Seeing James, a well-built Asian man with a bald head and full lips made my head spin. He challenged my concept of beauty. Read more here.