Confluences of fate

In my book, I talk about numerous confluences of fate that have intersected the pathways of my life. Here’s a spine-tingling example:

In 1992, I was the Special Events Manager at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. Part of my job was to be the liaison to the Asian Pacific American Friends (APAF) which nurtured and workshopped new works by Asian playwrights: Chay Yew, David Henry Hwang, Philip Gotanda, to name a few. A member of the APAF board was Edwin Kwoh. He was married to actress Beulah Quo, one of the founders of East West Players and I proudly served on that board for several years.

Since Kwoh is my mother's maiden name, I always wondered if we were related. Alas, no -- we could not find a connection.

Until now.

In doing research for a part of my book which hones in on my mother's 2nd eldest sister, Bertha, I focused on her husband Paul Meng who was the first Director of the China Institute based in New York City. In 1944, the China Institute was gifted with a new building by Henry R. Luce, the founder of Time Magazine.

In this old photo of the celebration of the new building, my Aunt Bertha is at the far right next to the man holding his hands in front of him.

Uncle Paul is at the far left in the 2nd row. To his left is Henry R. Luce. The 3rd man to Luce's left is..... a young Edwin Kwoh.

A photo of an adult Edwin Kwoh and Beulah Quo is from the time I worked with them in the early 1990’s.

What a small world.