Jeffery Paul Chan (August 19, 1942 – January 11, 2022) was an American author and scholar. He was a professor of Asian American studies and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

for 38 years until his retirement in 2005.

Biography

Chan was a co-founder of the Asian American studies department at San Francisco State University, and has twice served as first chair of the department. With fellow authors

Frank Chin Frank Chin (born February 25, 1940) is an American author and playwright. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Asian-American theatre. Life and career Frank Chin was born in Berkeley, California on February 25, 1940; until the age of s ...

Lawson Fusao Inada Lawson Fusao Inada (born May 26, 1938) is a Japanese American poet. He was the fifth poet laureate of the state of Oregon. Early life Born May 26, 1938, Inada is a third-generation Japanese American (''Sansei''). His father, Fusaji, worked as a d ...

, and

Shawn Wong Shawn K. Wong is a Chinese American author and scholar. He has served as the Professor of English, Director of the University Honors Program (2003–06), Chair of the Department of English (1997–2002), and Director of the Creative Writing Program ...

, Chan edited two editions of the groundbreaking anthology of Asian American literature, ''

Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers ''Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian-American Writers'' is a 1974 anthology by Frank Chin, Jeffery Paul Chan, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Wong, members of the Combined Asian American Resources Project (CARP). It helped establish Asian American Li ...

'', which helped introduce Asian American authors as worthy of serious study. This quartet had formed the Combined Asian Resources Project (CARP) to accomplish this task, which helped reintroduce and posthumously republish older works by Asian American authors, such as

John Okada John Okada (September 23, 1923 – February 20, 1971) was a Japanese American novelist known for his critically acclaimed novel ''No-No Boy''. Biography Born in Seattle, Okada was a student at the University of Washington during the attack o ...

No-No Boy ''No-No Boy'' is a 1957 novel, and the only novel published by the Japanese American writer John Okada. It tells the story of a Japanese-American in the aftermath of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Set in Seattle, Washi ...

and

Louis Chu Louis Hing Chu (雷霆超) (October 1, 1915 – 1970) was an American writer who was a pioneer of Asian American literature. His only published work is the 1961 novel ''Eat a Bowl of Tea (novel), Eat a Bowl of Tea.'' After emigrating to New Jerse ...

's Eat a Bowl of Tea, for which Chan penned a forward (foreword). Chan also coined the term racist love (with Chin) to express the ways Asians are stereotyped in overly-positive ways that are just as damaging as the negative stereotypes used against blacks, Latinos and Native Americans. His brother is

Michael Paul Chan Michael Paul Chan (born June 26, 1950) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Lieutenant Michael Tao on the TNT series ''The Closer'' and '' Major Crimes''. He also acted in '' U.S. Marshals'', playing an assassin. Biography Ch ...

, an actor, and a founding member of the

Asian American Theater Company The Asian American Theater Company (AATC) is a non-profit theatre performance company based in San Francisco. Its stated mission is "To connect people to Asian American culture through theatre". Background The Asian American Theater Company was es ...

, where Frank Chin was a leading figure, and where Jeffery Paul served on the Board of Directors for the company. Chan also wrote a comedic play, "Bunnyhop", which was produced by

East West Players East West Players is an Asian American theatre organization in Los Angeles, founded in 1965. As the nation's first professional Asian American theatre organization, East West Players continues to produce works and educational programs that give v ...

during their 1977–1978 season. After a battle with cancer, Chan died on January 11, 2022, at the age of 79.

Bibliography

* ''Auntie Tsia Lays Dying'' (1972), printed in ''Asian American Authors'' (Kai-yu Hsu and Helen Palubinskas, editors) * ''A Night on Lead Mountain: Short Stories'' (1974), submitted for his master's degree * ''Jackrabbit'' (1974), printed in ''Yardbird Reader Volume 3'' (Frank Chin and Shawn Wong, editors) * ''

'' (1974) (Co-editor, contributor) * ''Introduction'' to ''Eat a Bowl of Tea'' (1979), Chan's introduction was written for the

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, they have worked to assist the universit ...

reprinting * ''Cheap Labor'' (1982), a short story published by

Bamboo Ridge ''Bamboo Ridge'' (in full ''Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawai'i Literature and Arts'') is a Hawaii-based literary journal and nonprofit press. It was founded in 1978 by Eric Chock and Darrell H.Y. Lum to publish works by and for the people of Haw ...

press * ''The Big AIIEEEEE!: An Anthology of Chinese American and Japanese American Literature'' (1991) (Co-editor, contributor) * ''The Chinese in Haifa'' (1993), printed in the anthology Charlie Chan is dead, (

Jessica Hagedorn Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn (born 1949) is an American playwright, writer, poet, and multimedia performance artist. Biography Hagedorn is an American of mixed descent. She was born in Manila to a Scots-Irish-French-Filipino mother and a Spanish Fi ...

, editor) * ''Eat Everything Before You Die: A Chinaman In The Counterculture'' (novel; 2004) Seattle: University of Washington Press * ''"I'm a Chinaman": An Interview with Frank Chin (1970)'' (interview originally published in the out of print weekly newspaper East/West, re-printed in ''Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present''; 2006) University of California Press

Biography

Bibliography

References

Further reading

See also