Lin Tai-yi (; April 1, 1926 – July 2003) was a Chinese-American writer and translator. She was also known as Anor Lin or Lin Wu-Shuang. The daughter of

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang ( ; October 10, 1895 – March 26, 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generati ...

, she was born in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

and came to the United States with her family when she was ten. Lin was educated at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

. She taught Chinese at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. She married Richard Ming Lai, a Hong Kong official and the couple moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

. Lin was the Editor-in-Chief for the Hong Kong ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his w ...

'' from 1965 to 1988. She also wrote for various magazines. Lin and her family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1988. She wrote her first novel ''War Tide'' (1943) at the age of 17. Her sister

Adet Lin Adet Lin (; May 6, 1923 – 1971) was a Chinese-American novelist and translator. She also published under the name Tan Yun. She was also known as Lin Rusi. Biography The oldest daughter of Lin Yutang, she was born in Amoy and came to the Un ...

was also a writer. The two sisters translated ''Girl Rebel'', the autobiography of Xie Bingying.

Selected works

* ''Our Family'', autobiography (1939) with Adet Lin and Mei Mei Lin * ''Dawn over Chungking'', autobiography (1941) with Adet Lin * ''War Tide'', novel (1943) * ''The Golden Coin'', novel (1946) * ''The Eavesdropper'', novel (1959) * ''The Lilacs Overgrow'', novel (1960) * ''Kampoon Street'', novel (1964)

References

1926 births 2003 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American translators American emigrants to Hong Kong American women journalists Columbia University alumni Hong Kong novelists 20th-century journalists Yale University faculty 20th-century American women writers American women academics 21st-century American women {{China-translator-stub