John, it gives me such a kick telling you about my dad, I think I’ll write about him more.
Above: The Gillette Friday Night at the Fights TV Theme by Merrick+Anderson “Look Sharp Be Sharp” conducted by Eugene Ormandy. My dad’s favorite boxers: Sonny Liston (US), World Heavyweight Champion (and yeah, I greatly regard Mohammed Ali as a person but that 1965 bout in Maine was fixed—I mean, watch the film! Liston could’ve gotten up when he wanted but he purposely stayed down for the count and you can see it) —Pancho Villa (PH), World Flyweight Champion—Barney Ross (US), Lightweight, Light Welterweight, and Welterweight World Champion and loyal friend-to-the-end to Jack Ruby
He didn’t talk himself much, like a lot of other fathers I guess. He was born dirt-poor on the 25th of May, 1905 on the west coast of the big island, Luzon, on the South China Sea, in a province called Pangasinan, fabled kingdom of fabled Urduja, Warrior Queen, just like your King Arthur and yes she really lived and so did King Arthur, so there. Dad left school when he was 10, that would’ve been 1915, and went to work to support his grass widow (probably) mother. I get my Chinese heritage from dad’s distant family in Guangdong. (Catalonian and Irish from my mom.)
I don’t know how he got on for the next 12 years, but in 1927 he signed on to a cargo ship bound for San Francisco, where he ended up living for the next decade or so. SF, in some restaurant of some ex-boxer, is probably where he learned to cook, at least I’d like to think so. San Francisco is [putting finishing touches on my Kennedy piece—got some unsettling new information which I discovered on my own, absolutely NEW revelations and conjectures. You can’t believe how this is still a spooky topic in the States…I’ll finish my dad piece asap]
"I'll Be Dead Before You Break My Heart" 