Health & Fitness
Patch Blog: WWII Book Discussion
Reading project focuses on powerful, real life events in a Japanese American Internment Camp in California during World War II.
Fifty copies of Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and co-author James Houston will be available for check-out at the throughout February and early March as part of the California Council for the Humanities California Reads project: Searching For Democracy.
A touching, funny, and tragic memoir of the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, Farewell to Manzanar reminds us of a shameful chapter in the history of our state and our country. The riveting first-person telling of a cataclysmic time for Japanese Americans, who were imprisoned in their own land while being urged to send their sons to fight overseas, honors the dignity and great resourcefulness of people under the most oppressive circumstances. The story is a poignant reminder that in moments of national crisis our civil rights can be at most risk.
The project will culminate with an in-person book discussion program with Jeanne Houston 7 p.m. Thursday, March 1 and a screening of the Farewell to Manzanar full-length film 7 p.m. March 2. Both will be presented in the at 1115 El Centro Street and doors will open at 6:30 p.m. No tickets or reservations are necessary.
Find out what's happening in South Pasadenafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston was born in Inglewood, California. Best known for Farewell to Manzanar, her description of her own experiences, her works explore the ethnic diversity of the United States. Co-written with her now-deceased husband, Jim, Jeanne’s memoir delivers a powerful first-person account that reveals her search for the meaning of Manzanar.
“Told without bitterness, her story reflects the triumph of the human spirit during an extraordinary episode in American history.”—Library Journal.
Find out what's happening in South Pasadenafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The Searching for Democracy project is co-sponsored by the South Pasadena Public Library and the Friends of the South Pasadena Public Library. Project Partners include the Japanese American National Museum, The East West Players, Pacific Asia Museum, Rafu Shimpo, Altadena Presbyterian Church, the South Pasadena Unified School District, the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, J-Pals Club, Videotheque, and the Bissell House Bed & Breakfast. Special thanks to Russell DeVita.