William Gee Wong, in conversation with Bruce Koon about “Sons of Chinatown”

5 p.m. reception | 6 pm talk, followed by a book signing

Veteran journalists Bruce Koon and William Gee Wong discuss Wong’s new memoir, Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America. This deeply personal book explores Wong’s experiences growing up in Oakland’s Chinatown, his family’s immigrant journey, and his reflections on identity, belonging, and the Chinese American experience.

About Sons of Chinatown from Temple University Press:

William Gee Wong was born in Oakland, California’s Chinatown in 1941, the only son of his father, known as Pop. Pop was born in Guangdong Province, China and emigrated to Oakland as a teenager during the Chinese Exclusion era in 1912. He entered the U.S. legally as the “son of a native,” despite having partially false papers. Sons of Chinatown is Wong’s evocative dual memoir of his and his father’s parallel experiences in America.

As Pop grappled with the systemic racism towards Asians during the exclusion era, Wong wistfully depicts Pop’s efforts to establish a family business and build a life for his family in segregated Oakland. As the exclusion law ended in 1943, young William was assimilating into American life and developing his path as a journalist. Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Oakland Tribune, and Asian American periodicals, Wong chronicled Asian American experiences while honoring Chinese American history and identity, but he too faced discrimination.

Sons of Chinatown poignantly weaves these father and son stories together with admiration and righteous anger. Through the mirrored lens of his father, Wong reflects on the hardships Asian Americans endured—and continue to face—with American exceptionalism. Wong’s inspiring memoir provides a personal history that also raises the question of whether America welcomes or repels immigrants.

About William Gee Wong

William Gee Wong is the son of a Chinese immigrant, a “paper son” who came to Oakland, California’s Chinatown during the Chinese Exclusion era. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, Wong became a pioneering journalist of Chinese/Asian descent with, among others, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Wall Street Journal, and the Oakland Tribune. He also wrote for Asian American publications.
During the last phases of his mainstream career, he wrote a high-profile column that occasionally highlighted stories from growing Chinese American and Asian American communities. For about a year, he was a regional commentator on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS and appeared as a guest on local television and radio news shows. During the mid-1960s, Wong was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Republic of the Philippines, after which he got his Master’s degree at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. In addition to his most recent book, “Sons of Chinatown: A Memoir Rooted in China and America,” he is author of Yellow Journalist: Dispatches from Asian America and Images of America: Oakland’s Chinatown.About Bruce Koon

About Bruce Koon

Bruce Koon is program coordinator for Contra Costa Youth Journalism and mentors college and high school journalism students and mid-career journalists. He is a member of Pro News Coaches, a network of former Wall Street Journal editors and reporters assisting local news organizations, and a senior fellow for the USC Center on Communication and Leadership Policy.

Previously, Koon was News Director for KQED, one of the nation’s largest NPR- and PBS-affiliated public radio/television stations, for nearly 8 years, and held several editor positions during 11 years with Knight Ridder’s digital divisions, including Executive News Editor.

His newspaper reporter and business editor career included the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Oakland Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, and the National Observer. He was a founding board member of the Online News Association and served two terms as president. He was president of the San Francisco Chapter of the Asian American Journalism Association.

He was Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Californian in 1970. He guest lectured the “History of Online News” class at UC Berkeley in 2022, and taught “Social Impact of Journalism” at San Francisco State University in 2019.

He has served as an adviser for the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, Knight Digital Media Center, (UC Berkeley-USC), J-Lab (The Institute of Interactive Journalism) at American University, the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.

He lives in Piedmont, California, with his wife, dog and tennis racquets.