Book Review: The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot

Title: The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot: The True Story of the Tyrant Who Created North Korea and The Young Lieutenant Who Stole His Way to Freedom
Author: Blaine Harden
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Viking Press (2015)
ISBN-10: 0670016578 

ISBN-13: 9780670016570

Blaine Harden's juxtaposing portraits of Kim Il-sung and No Kum-sok speak of stories much deeper than you might expect. This book isn't what I'd classify as a typical North Korean propaganda smashing, ten-foot-pole distanced shock-value reporting. It's equal parts entertaining, readily accessible, and shrewdly paced.

I held a passing familiarity with No's famous 1953 defection but I was wrong to think that this book could teach me little else. The book's quite different from Harden's previous work "Escape from Camp 14" and more akin to Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City"; a chronological text novelized in two opposing parts. Each divided chapter didactically explores the the two sides of the North Korean military coin. Much like Larson's "Devil in the White City" focused on the improbable setting up and lasting aftermath of the the 1893 Chicago's World Fair, the commonality of Harden's work is the time and setting; pre- and post-war North Korea. 

The character studies and comparative interactions between major players far exceed the expectation for an ambitions work linking the rise of one world-famous dictator and his cronies with one esoterically noted but otherwise unremarkable fighter pilot. Harden blends both stories without political bias and instead focuses on the developing personas in their time without the subjective benefit of Western bias and 20/20 historical judgment. It's an impressive skill that I feel many other historians could learn from.

I don't want to give much else away but for a combined biography, the execution is masterful. It's damn good reading and well Worth your time.

Book Review: A Diplomat's Helpmate

Title: A Diplomat's Helpmate: How Rose F. Foote, wife of the first U.S. Minister and envoy extraordinary to Korea, served her country in the Far East 
Author: Mary Viola Tingley Lawrence
Paperback: 50 pages
Publisher: H.S. Crocker Company (1918)
Archive.org location

A pretentious title to complement outlandish laudatory writing, A Diplomat's Helpmate: How Rose F. Foote, wife of the first U.S. Minister and envoy extraordinary to Korea, served her country in the Far East is a short but valuable piece of history transparently disguised in absurdly extravagant acclaim. Embellishments notwithstanding, this is a brief recount of events involving the wife of the first American Minister to Korea, Rose F. Foote.

Her biographer, Mary Viola Tingley Lawrence, was a personal friend and dutifully exaggerated Foote's accomplishments posthumously. Consequently, notable events are glossed over with patriotic zeal and otherwise useful personal accounts are unfortunately missing. For instance, nothing is mentioned of Foote's supposed domineering personality or her obstinate rivalry with the only other Western woman in Seoul. An example of Lawrence's flourishes:

The American lady at once commanded a prominent place in oriental diplomatic life. Her exceptional beauty and queenly bearing aroused admiration wherever she was seen.

For the reader's sake, included authentic photos of Foote betray this likelihood. Another example of Lawrence playing up Foote's prominence is in her retelling of the supposed feud between Foote and the Korean Queen. The grudge supposedly came about because of Foote's magnanimously arrival in Seoul where she was instantly loved and appreciated by all citizens. The Queen's alleged reaction:

The baffled Queen in a fury of rage beat upon her imprisoning walls, as she smarted under the taunting realization that the uncrowned occidental woman commanded a limitless freedom in her interference with the traditions that had been dearest to the Korean heart.

The book isn't all fluff, though. Rose Foote did indeed live a pioneering life abroad; after all, she was the first Western woman to enter Seoul. She accompanied her husband on this rather risky political assignment while in her fifties. Dutifully, she made the legation grounds social and accommodating of the status her husband garnered. It wasn't all tea parties, though; her perspective of her husband's witness of the abortive 1884 coup d'etat was graphically worth mentioning. It also seems that her time abroad proved to be too taxing on her health; she passed away six months after returning to San Francisco. 

For a fifty page adulatory account, it's short and far too sweet. It's not exactly fiction, though, so a discerning eye can detect some of the genuine work that the Foote's accomplished. For those interested in the time period, it's worth a quick read-through. 

- - - - - -

Robert Neff penned a broader picture of the woman for OhMyNews a few years back: Parts One and Two.

Book Review: Naval Surgeon in Yi Korea: The Journal of George W. Woods

Title: Naval Surgeon in Yi Korea: The Journal of George W. Woods
Author: Fred C. Bohm & Robert R. Swartout, Jr.
Paperback: 138 pages
Publisher: Institute of East Asian Studies
ISBN-10: 0912966688
ISBN-13: 9780912966687

Of all the Westerners who passed through Korea after it cautiously (albeit officially) opened its doors in the late 19th century, one would be hard pressed to find a more learned individual with a penchant for detail. Enter 46-year-old U.S. Naval surgeon George W. Woods, a career officer who eventually rose to the highest medical rank the Navy bestows. Woods kept an impeccable journal of his several month stay in and around Seoul in 1884 while serving aboard the USS Juniata.

What makes the annotated transcription of Woods' journal so significant, apart from his prosaic depictions of Korean life, is that his sojourn occurred before notable missionaries like Henry Appenzeller, Horace Newton Allen, and Horace Grant Underwood arrived and established themselves. In fact, Woods arrived less than a year after Lucious Foote, the American envoy, took up official residence in Seoul. Few others can claim such a distinction.

The old adage "don't judge a book by its cover" is especially accurate here. The cover of this 1984 publication is admittedly atrocious but the over twenty full page photograph reproductions admirably complement Woods' accessibly detailed and optimistically objective account. A lot of the characteristic air of superiority that was common of the time is refreshingly absent. We are quite fortunate that the editors, Bohm and Swartout, preserved and compiled this historically significant journal. If you can still find a copy, it's worth the trouble.

Book Review: Pyongyang: A journey into North Korea

Title: Pyongyang: A journey into North Korea
Author: Guy Delisle
Paperback:  192 pages
Publisher:  Drawn and Quarterly (May 2007)
ISBN-10:  1897299214
ISBN-13:  9781897299210

Try to keep expectations on level for this one: it's a graphic novel chronicling a two month animation project.  The gratuitous mountain of critical praise piled on the first few pages and back cover are really unneeded. There's no great revelation, no expounding truths to be found at the end and certainly no scholarly work was done. It was a job and he did it complaining most of the time. The rest of the time was spent criticizing transparent inefficiencies and consequently drowning sorrows away in peculiarly copious amounts of alcohol. The narration is predictably wry and cynical.

That isn't to say that "Pyongyang" is a bad read. Far from it. The illustrator is charmingly talented and wittingly depicts his unique, sheltered experience. He's astute without being cocky and meek without being self-deprecating. He's a regular guy whose snarky comments would probably come from 90% of us if we were in his shoes. After all, he isn't working for an NGO or some humanitarian cause; he's an animator working on cartoons. His observations are just that.

This isn't the latest groundbreaking piece from Andrei Lankov or the latest controversial drivel from Bruce Cumings; it's a graphic novel aimed a wide audience and it's fun. Worth a read.

Book Review: Journal of the Third Daughter: Growing up in Korea

Title: Journal of the Third Daughter: Growing up in Korea
Author: Frances Lampe Peterson
Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: Four Seasons Publishers (2000)
ISBN-10: 1891929380
ISBN-13: 9781891929380

It's really hard to slap a negative review on a memoir like this because I'm not in a position to judge the life the author led; rather, the way she wrote it down. For that, I can say that this is not a very good book.

For a memoir that claims to cover the period of time before her birth up until she left Korea and entered college, it tells surprisingly little. Far too much valuable information is assumed to the reader; as if only other "mishkids" were reading. The average reader, even one with a background or interest in Korea, is mostly left wondering what exactly is going on.

The writing style hurts the experience, too, as it is entirely too oral. Gratuitous exclamations abound. Chapters are arranged more like topics and are often difficult to follow. The "third daughter" motif fails to make an appearance other than in the title. Romanization of Korean words are sloppy and inconsistent. The uninspired layout isn't going to win any beauty contests, either.

I was really hoping for a salient recount like in Mary Linley Taylor's "Chain of Amber" but instead it read more like a disjointed gathering of somewhat related recollections. Sometimes oral histories that make their way to print are hidden treasures begging to be discovered and relived. Others are more suitable for keeping in the family for nostalgia's sake. This book is the latter.

Book Review: Hamel's Journal and a description of the Kingdom of Korea: 1653-1666

Title: Hamel's Journal and a description of the Kingdom of Korea: 1653-1666
Author: Hendrick Hamel and Jean-Paul Buys
Paperback: 113 pages
Publisher: Royal Asiatic Society: Korea Branch (1998)
ISBN-10: 8972250864
ISBN-13: 978-8972250869

Crashed on the shores of a forbidden kingdom unknown to the Western world, a young Dutch bookkeeper and 35 of his shipmates found themselves in uncharted territory in 1653. Unlike the Japanese or Chinese who customarily sent shipwrecked foreigners on their way, the Korean court flatly refused and instead intended the survivors to spend the rest of their days as guests in their kingdom. For thirteen years, that's exactly what happened.

All told, only 8 out of the original 64 members of the Sperwer made it back to their homeland after living in Jeju, Seoul and later split between three cities in the Jolla region. Hamel's observations were well recorded and still provide a fascinating look into life in seventeenth century Korea. This revised edition contains plenty of supplementary information. A small treasure worth reading.

The story makes several interesting references to an older Dutch shipwreck survivor, Jan Jansz Weltevree, who decades earlier, also shipwrecked in Korea. although his two shipmates successfully escaped, he did not and lived out his life in Korea. After meeting Hamel, he acted as a translator for the Dutchmen. What are the odds?

There's a museum in Jeju near the supposed crash site of the Sperwer. I visited it in 2010 and took a few snapshots. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend checking it out.

Book Review: The Trespassers: Korea, June 1871

Title: The Trespassers: Korea, June 1871
Author: Irving Werstein
Hardback: 158 pages
Publisher: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc (May 1969)
ISBN-10: 999922928X
ISBN-13: 978-9999229289

And for today's obscure gem, we have (un)celebrated children's author Irving Werstein, who published dozens of short nonfiction titles that frequently dealt with international war. I came across this while researching the USS Pueblo Incident, which is mentioned in the introduction. For a library book from the late 60s, I have to say that I was impressed. Onto the review:

A short nonfiction account of the Battle of Kanghwa Island (1871) aimed at junior high school readers, this entertaining retelling of the "Sinmiyangyo" incident is surprisingly well-constructed. In addition to drawing on remarkably telling journal and diary entries from officers, sailors and marines who participated in the battle, the corresponding ink illustrations by Joseph Papin make this a delightfully fun, if not obscure, gem. If you happen to run across an old school library copy, I recommend picking it up.

It's sad to think that only four years later, the Japanese would end up doing a number on the island, too, and eventually the country itself in 1876.

Curiously not mentioned in the book, the marines famously captured the defending general's flag and brought it back to the states. There, it festered in an obscure wing of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum in Annapolis, Maryland. Seeing as how the flag was questionably obtained (the countries were not technically at war) its housing in an American museum raised the interests of a fellow acquaintance.

Korean archery expert and longtime American expat Thomas Duvernay was instrumental in repatriating the flag to Korea, albeit on a ten year loan. Unrelated, but also interesting is that his son, Nicholas, is a rockstar slash professor. Very impressive.

Lastly, a short biography of Irving Werstein courtesy of LibraryThing:

Irving Werstein was born and raised in Brooklyn, but grew up in Queens. He attended P.S. 90 and graduated from Richmond Hill High School, where he was on the staff of the school paper. Despite the Depression years of the early 1930's, he entered New York University, but family finances forced him to leave school only after 2 years. He claimed he left college to "see the world." He enjoyed various careers along the way, including those of waiter, camp counselor, factory worker, reporter. Mr. Werstein made his first writing sale in 1938. Before being drafted in 1941, Werstein sold many stories to mens and adventure magazines He served in the Army during WWII, stationed in Panama. On the eve of his transportation to England for the D-Day invasion, he contracted malaria, and sat out the remainder of the war stateside. In the army, he honed his writing skills working for the Army magazine, Yank. He achieved the exalted rank of Corporal. After his honorable discharge, he seriously embarked on a full-time writing career, selling his stories to the likes of Saturday Evening Post, plus radio and TV. He spent much of the late 40's and early 50's traveling, living abroad in England, Mexico and Italy. He returned and resided permanently in New York City, in particular, at the newly developed Stuyvesant Town apartments. His first published book, July 1863, came out in the fall of 1957. His newly adopted son arrived on February 22, 1958, a four year old born in Belgium. With his wife Goldie, the family resided continuously on the lower east side, with a move to Peter Cooper Village in 1968. Mr. Westein wrote over 50 books, mostly concentrating his efforts on non-fiction writing for young adults. He died of a sudden heart attack on April 7 1971. His wife died several months later. He left behind his young son Jack, now a librarian, living in Washington D.C. with his own adopted son, Michael.

Book Review: Letters from Joseon

Title: Letters from Joseon: 19th Century Korea through the Eyes of an American Ambassador's Wife
Author: Robert Neff
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Seoul Selection (December 2012)
ISBN-13: 9788997639090

This is the kind of history book that you hope gets written but almost never does. Freelance writer and late 19th/early 20th century Korean historian Robert Neff follows up 2009's Korea Through Western Eyes with an intimate look into the life of an American diplomat and his family living at the legation in Seoul during the 1890s. Neff is the perfect choice to compile and edit this entertaining and frank look into the turbulent events that occurred during the four years of Joseph Sill's residency. Between the Sino-Japanese War, the Gabo Reforms, the brutal murder of Queen Min and King Gojong's subsequent escape to the Russian legation, they lived in Korea at a very exciting but tragic time.

The full title "Letters from Joseon: 19th century Korea through the eyes of an American ambassador's wife" is somewhat misleading. The book covers so much more than just an ambassador’s wife and her mail. The ambassador himself, his wife, sister-in-law, and several others have their personal correspondence featured here as well. Also, these letters are not simply transcribed and reprinted. Backstories and explanations are beautifully fleshed out for the reader’s consideration. 

The narrative is cohesively arranged chronologically and further divided into twenty four chapters covering topics like “Trouble With Soldiers”, “Cholera: The Rat God” and “The Murder of the Queen”. This is in addition to the painstaking number of footnotes, photographs, and quotations for quick reference. Virtually every single major and obscurely minor player in the events leading up to the 20th century is mentioned; dozens earn their own miniature biography.

This is also an aesthetically pleasing book; a luxury many history texts choose to do without. The layout is clean and the color scheme is charmingly rustic. What steal the show almost more than the story itself are the photographs, most of which are from the author’s personal collection. It seems that hardly a page passes without an affixed biographical portrait, naval ship profile, sketchbook rendering or outdoor snapshot. For a time when photography was a new kind of novelty to Korea, the collection amassed here is impressive.

Aside from some typos, fault can only be found in the book’s abrupt conclusion. Up until the ending, the reader is gingerly lead along a path that relives the unique lives of these people in great detail. The literary handholding anticlimactically ends as the Sills unceremoniously enter into a quite retirement. Such is life, I suppose. A few questions do remain about those who took over, though. Perhaps it’s outside the scope of the book to divulge the goings on in Korea after the protagonist and her family left. 

The overall result is an academically relevant history book that reads like a juicy gossip column. This is the author at what he does best; research, compilation and exposition. He tells a story that was always there for those who knew where to look but few cared to venture. What makes it worth reading is how Neff makes you actually give a damn about people who history nearly forgot. For such a niche corner of history, it’s really a wonderful book that is well worth your time.

Book Review: From Pusan to Panmunjom

Title: From Pusan to Panmunjom: Wartime Memoirs of the Republic of Korea's First Four-Star General
Author: Paik Sun Yup
ebook: 271 pages
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc. (October 1999)
ISBN-10: 1574887432
ISBN-13: 978-1574887433

An immensely important contribution to Korean War discussions, From Pusan to Panmujom chronicles the Korean War from instigation to armistice from the viewpoint of arguably the most influential and well-respected ROK Army officer ever, former General Paik Sun Yup. His involvement permeated virtually every major battle and decision that occurred on the battlefield and thus, innately qualifies him to narrate the vastly overlooked Korean perspective of the war. From frantically forming a counterattack to repel the invading North Korean forces, holding the line at the Pusan Perimeter, re-establishing tactical dominance back near the 38th parallel and beyond to capture Pyongyang, to domestic objectives such as quelling the communist guerrilla force near Mt. Jiri and representing the armed forces at the armistice talks, General Paik was the quintessential key player in every major event during the Korean War. His story is begging to be heard.

As Paik concedes, just prior to the war The ROK Army was an overwhelmingly under-equipped militia at best. It was only army in name. None of the heavy armor, long-range firepower, or logistical support existed yet and thus, was reduced to being compared to the U.S. Army as nothing more than a ragtag group of underpaid and undertrained volunteers and forced draftees. While this might be partially correct, the later joint U.S. Army's contribution of heavy armor and superior howitzers combined with the ROK's infantry proved to be an effective fighting force despite relatively little previous experience. Paik maintains that his men's determination to unify the country and staunch anti-communism stance steeled them into hardened soldiers willing to sacrifice themselves for the good of the country. Paik proudly writes highly of his men; so much so that it's difficult to imagine how he must have dealt with the loses inflicted by the numerous Chinese human wave offenses that inundated his forces.

Not only was Paik the first Korean to reach the prestigious rank of Four-Star General, he was also amazingly young; few other 33-year-olds could claim his level of success. Yet, Paik comes off as a humble working-man's soldier; a man devoted to the service of his country but who could also see the internationally unfolding big picture. Even as he pens this memoir decades later, he attributes successes to those around him and claims responsibility for failures. Men of Paik's caliber are indeed rare. 

Paik's memoir affects me on a few personal levels. As a former enlisted member of the U.S. armed forces, I can understand the clear reasons why he was quickly promoted; Paik appears to have been an outstanding commanding officer at a time when they were likely few and far between. The history nerd in me appreciates Paik's ability to give grand scheme analyses when deconstructing individual battles; he appropriately expounds on certain contextual details to help color the circumstances that he and his men faced. His politically sensitive language, too, is foretelling of his second career in diplomacy. Furthermore, he often goes beyond dryly stating who did what; Paik briefs the reader of the men around him who would later rise to future successes inside and outside of the military. For all of Paik's militaristic achievements, he also maintains a certain degree of literary professionalism that hovers around frankness and cordiality. For such a heavy topic, it's really a great read.

This is a well-constructed memoir, no doubt about it. I have very few reservations about recommending it. If only the reader does a short brush-up on basic military hierarchy and unit strength comparison (corps, battalion, company, etc) the book then becomes highly appreciable by non-military and former military alike. Like many others who have read this book, I come away feeling not only more informed and also grateful to Paik for writing down his astonishing experiences. If you're interested in Korea or the Korean War, you will surely appreciate this organically Korean side of the story.

Book Review: The Korean Church Under Japanese Colonialism

Title: The Korean Church Under Japanese Colonialism
Author: Choi Jai-keun
Softcover: 262 pages
Publisher: Jimoondang (August 31, 2007)
ISBN-10: 8988095235
ISBN-13: 9788988095232

A follow-up to 2006's The Origin of the Roman Catholic Church in Korea, Choi Jai-keun briefly walks the reader through the Korean Protestant church's jarring beginnings from nationalistic rebellion against Japanese colonial rule to ubiquitous religious dominance. The author selectively cites from both Western and Korean sources to tell a history worth sharing. However, it may not be the story you're expecting.

The church's origins are multifaceted and its growth was directly related to a divisive national identity crisis that occurred in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Choi narrates this transition somewhat free from subjective commentary other than to occasionally comment on how inept the Korean monarchy had become just prior to colonization and how Christian conviction proved steadfast. The progression from early foreign missionary influence to domestic governance is steady, however, the book loses steam when it reaches the 1910s. A fair amount of the first half of the book is spent discussing and dissecting the 105 Man Incident of 1910-1912. It picks back up with the controversy surrounding Christians participating in state-mandated Shinto rituals. Unfortunately, those two are the only main topics to be found here.

Regarding the book's overall presentation, one could hope for a more finished product. The layout isn't anything to look at; apart from a bland design that feels stiff and visually unappealing, there's no illustrations or pictures of any kind. Instead, the author needlessly numerates points of interest that could have been better expressed in well-developed paragraphs. Furthermore, despite looking and feeling like a master's thesis, frequent minor editing mistakes run rampant and unchecked. Although they generally don't detract from the intended meaning, they certainly do make the book feel entirely too unpolished and not yet fit for publishing.

In unusual academic fashion, there's a dearth of not only primary sources like official church histories but also modern interpretations; most of Choi's sources are from the 1960s. Disappointing, too, is that only a negligible amount is written about pioneering missionaries such as Horace N. Allen, Henry Appenzeller, Horace G. Underwood and the like. If the title of the book had instead been lengthily named "The Korean Conspiracy Case and Subsequent Rebellion Against Obligatory Shinto Rituals" perhaps the reader would be better prepared for the secluded path that Choi takes.

That's what disappoints the most about this book. It feels like a concealed path that's too narrow in scope and not quite authoritative enough to be mandatory reading for a college course nor entertaining enough to be a celebrated history book to be passed around. It reads like a rough draft to something more important; a review copy for a larger work that begs for native English-speaking editing and a good publisher's sense of flair. The contents speak of good history worthy of discussion. However, you might want to read about them elsewhere. It's not a bad book, but not exactly exhilarating nor polished enough to recommend.

- - -

I was expecting something more lucid, I suppose. I can say, at least, that I learned more about the 105 Man Incident (105인 사건).

This event, also known as the Korean Conspiracy Case, was the culmination of the recently fully instated Japanese colonial government's aim of their distrust of natively Korean organizations. By this time, all officially registered politically-orientated groups had been legally abolished. However, perhaps by either oversight or underestimation, the small but growing number of Christian churches were still allowed to operate making them breeding grounds not only for quiet, nonviolent religious expression but also for underground nationalistic camaraderie. As the colonial government was still reeling from the 1909 assassination of the first Resident-General of Korea Itō Hirobumi, the incumbent Resident-General, Terauchi Masatake, took no chances. Under the pretense of a mass assassination plot, the gendarmerie rounded up around 700 Koreans; among these, a few were killed, many were tortured, and most made false confessions under duress. All told, 105 men were incarcerated after a farcical trial. This event marked a turning point in religious and national rebellion. Hence, for many Koreans of the time, association with Christianity became synonymous with association with nationalism.

Book Review: Park Chung-Hee: From Poverty to Power

Title: Park Chung-Hee: From Poverty to Power
Author: Chong-sik Lee
eBook: 327 pages
Publisher: The KHU Press (March 29, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0615560288
ISBN-13: 978-0615560281

Former ROK army general and self-appointed "democratic" president Park Chung-hee (1917-1979) is still quite possibly the most controversial political figure in Korean history. Interpreting his legacy remains a contestable notion of whether infrastructural matters such as economic security and public services take precedence over domestic matters like citizen rights and public programs. Appropriately aimed at an English-speaking audience outside of Korea, the author writes in hopes for the foreign reader to gain a better understanding of Park's legacy and why it still matters. This thorough biography of Park's early life sets the stage for discussions about not only Park but his first daughter, conservative assemblywoman and presidential hopeful Park Geun-hye, as her father's legacy is inexorably tied to hers. Unsurprisingly, the elder Park has one of the most turbulent, fascinating background stories to support his questionable, yet dynamic legacy.

One couldn't ask for a more qualified author, either. Professor Lee's multilingual confidence in writing makes you wonder whether if English is his first language (which it isn't). Lee's narrative is concise and informative. Unfortunately, his ability is underutilized;  Lee takes the reader on somewhat of a glossed tour of the late president's life, leaving out key events such as a play-by-play breakdown of the 1961 military coup, the October Yushin reforms of 1972, a failed assassination attempt that instead took his wife's life in 1974 and even his own eventual assassination on October 26, 1979. How these crucial events could be left out in a biography of the man is beyond me. Why include an entire chapter on Park's elementary school performance but leave out him stepping down from the military junta and entering into the realm of debatably democratic politics? Surely, it's not asking too much for the author to have added just a few more chapters to continue the story that he spent so much time and effort building up.

However, it can be said with confidence that Lee's research is meticulous and relatively objective; which is to say that he draws from not only liberal but also conservative sources as well as sources based on languages other than Korean. Make no mistake that the author is ready to defend his position and has solid ground to do so; each chapter ends with more than enough footnotes loaded with interesting comments and context. Lee's expertise is well-suited for this type of internationally spanning biography.

Without a doubt, this book had the potential to be the authoritative English-language reference on one of Korea's most influential men to date. However, due to the book's abrupt end while leading up to the 1961 coup, it regrettably removes this title from a wide-reaching non-Korean audience and instead places it in obscurity for history nerds like me to rip apart. Much like one of the author's previous works Syngman Rhee the Prison Years of a Young Radical, this book, too, begs more from the author's clearly capable hands. After such a brilliant build up in the first and second acts, for Professor Lee to flat out leave out the most memorable and talked about moments of Park Chung-hee's life really makes this book hard to recommend.

Book Review: A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: A Historical Novel

Title: A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: A Historical Novel

Author: Donald Southerton
eBook: 80 pages
Publisher: iUniverse (November 16, 2006)
ISBN-10: 0595420974
ISBN-13: 978-0595420971

A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm is the first in a trilogy of short historical fiction set in late nineteenth century Korea. The source material is based on and extrapolated from relevant historical evidence involving early American entrepreneurs in Korea. The fictional protagonist, Josh Gillet, hails from a sleepy New England town where he apprentices under his family-owned tinware company. When offered the opportunity to work the ledger at a local trading firm's Yokohama office, the young man signs up in hopes of experiencing adventure in the Far East. After arriving in Japan, further lucrative ventures await him in neighboring Korea. The budding entrepreneur soon discovers more about this mysteriously secluded country only recently opened to Western trade.

The story itself is believable enough and doesn't flirt with being overtly fictitious. It's a safe narrative that doesn't stray too far from expected adventure tale norms. However, the number of formatting and omission errors in the kindle edition is borderline unforgivable. There shouldn't be a reason why this ebook was so poorly edited but, in its current state, it's embarrassing. Based on this ebook, the author, while a longtime respected Koreanist and international business consultant, demonstrates that writing isn't his strong suit. In addition to careless editing and poor formatting, the term "Yankee" is grossly overused almost to the point of being derogatory. There's only so many times the protagonist can be referred to as "a young Yankee" or "the Yankee trader" until it becomes gratuitously offensive, or even worse, lazy writing. Less noticeable but still worth mentioning are the tacked on "sketches" and "wood prints" depicting scenes in the story. These illustrations undeniably are photographs that have been manipulated to look authentic to the period. Although the effort is acknowledged, the end result is transparently artificial and comes across as phony instead of complementing.

This seemingly rushed short story regrettably highlights the importance of hiring a good editor before publishing. It's actually not a bad story, but the faux-authentic illustrations and sloppy editing detracts from an otherwise passably entertaining, if not esoterically, historical novel. Unfortunately, the writing isn't exactly riveting and doesn't have any discernible charm. However, if you're especially interested in this recess of Korean history, then you might enjoy it. Otherwise, it's a short waste of your time.

Book Review: Escape from Camp 14

Title: Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
Author: Blaine Harden
eBook: 224 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult (March 29, 2012)
ISBN-10: 0670023329
ISBN-13: 978-0670023325

Escape from Camp 14 tells the incredible story of a young North Korean man who boldly and narrowly escaped from the total control labor camp where he was born and raised. Shin Dong-hyuk's startlingly account presents the world with an almost unbelievable yet remarkably honest story starting with his heart-wrenching upbringing to his immigration to the States. Former Washington Post correspondent Blaine Harden captures a truly unique testimony hammered out from Shin's own 2007 Korean-language memoir and numerous personal interviews with Shin and other refugees. The spark that motivated Shin's desire to leave his torturous, yet only, home might surprise you.

The story begins with Shin's subjection to torture and subsequent witness of the deaths of his mother and older brother. Gruesome, it aptly sets the mood for the unspeakable life he lived behind the walls and electrified fence that lined the camp. It's precisely his blood relation to known defectors during the Korean War that borne him from an arranged reward marriage from a sort of "original sin" stained couple serving in the camp. This coupling, though, precluded Shin from ever being capable of any real redemption. Having born and reared within the confines of the camp and minimally educated at the guard-run school, the ideological brain-washing that the rest of the North Korean population experienced in primary school was curiously absent and instead replaced with sometimes fatal capital punishment and unquestionable subordinated obedience. Because Shin had no outside comparison to his desolate reality, he lived life largely without ever wanting to leave. More sickening, though, was the daily routine of physical beatings, fear-inducing rule enforcement, and constant murder and rape that he witnessed and accepted as commonplace.

When one combines a sheltered mockery of education, a total lack of media (both state-run and international) and an brutally oppressive guard force fostering competition amongst prisoners, this almost powder-keg environment was a proving ground for mindless physical labor and unwavering fear. Shin's revelation of knowledge of a life outside the labor came not from a distant relative, nor a smuggler, radio broadcast or even a religious leader. He heard a rumor of a land were meat was grilled, varied and plentiful. Though he didn't know where this fabled country was, constant hunger drove him to try his luck elsewhere. He is one of the few successful refugees who did not procure escape through a broker. What happened when he gained access outside of the camp is even more extraordinary.

Shin's story is amazing, simply put. The book is incredibly moving and unsentimentally objective. A possible weakness in the narrative is that the book is limited to Shin's own experience whereas Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy charts several diverse stories at once; Shin's experience was not typical of most North Korean refugees. This is hardly a knock at Harden's book as it proudly stands as a brilliant account of the world's most despicable regime's nightmare of a labor camp. Graphic at times but always moving, pay heed to these atrocities by at least hearing him out. Shin's is an original story that deserves your attention. You won't soon forget it.

Book Review: Korea: Caught in Time

Title: Korea: Caught in Time
Author: Terry Bennett
Softcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Garnet Publishing; Reprint edition (July 26, 2011)
ISBN-10:  1859642217
ISBN-13:  978-1859642214

East Asian photography historian Terry Bennett blesses us with a paperback reprint of his woefully rare 1998 hardcover photo journal Korea: Caught in Time. A satisfying serving of some the earliest surviving prints on Korea, Bennett graciously but briefly narrates some of the stories behind the photos from his impressive private collection. Featuring a concise and informative introduction by former British Ambassador to Korea Martin Uden, this excellent compilation is one of the few of its kind. In addition to the varied subjects and locations included from the author's collection, this photo book is also sparingly padded with various prints from other public and private collections that span from the 1870s to the early 1900s. 


The book begins with a contextual background on Korea's international state of affairs prior to the introduction of the camera by foreigners. The meat of the book, though, is but only sprinkled with relevant background knowledge and instead favors a photographic exposé approach. This contrasts the compendium storytelling of Donald Clark's Missionary Photography in Korea or even John Rich's jaw-droppingly stunning Korean War in Color. Bennett's collection is more fundamental than these other photo journals; it tells what little remains of the earliest photographs of Korea. According to Bennett, pickings were slim for the time: "It is no exaggeration to say [...] that for every one Korean print dating from the 1880s, I would expect to see 500 Japanese prints. That ratio for the 1870s would be worse, and 1860s Korean prints may be non-existent." (p.18). Considering the scarcity of surviving photos, urban myths, general public misunderstanding about the photographic process, and the prevalence of non-Korean photographers, it's a wonder how Bennett was even able to accumulate the collection we have here. 


Bennett's extensive knowledge of photography in Japan, China and Korea coalesce in this generous collection. It's definitively niche, but it's good niche; it's a historically significant collection that deserves to be printed. My only gripe is that it's only 144 pages and can be effortlessly finished in a single sitting. True to form, though, there are several prints that the reader will not only stare at, but also come back to admire; characteristics of a good collection, indeed. For those with an interest in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Korea, this book is worth the price of admission.

Book Review: The Search

Title: The Search
Author: Bobby F. Griffin
Softcover: 191 pages
Publisher: Creative Speaking Bureau (Sixth Printing, 1986)
ISBN-10:  N/A
ASIN: B0007BFNP4, B000MW7FPY, B0007335S4, B0026PZ7XW

An obscure but touching story to say the least, The Search briskly tells the story of a former United States Army sergeant who searches for his befriended young Korean orphan from the Korean War. Ghostwritten by minister and former editor of the Bristol Herald Courier Howard Taylor, Griffin's story starts in late 1951 when he decides to drop out of high school, join the Army, serve in Korea, return home and his subsequent search for the boy 20 years later.

As exciting as the premise is, there's not much meat to this story, unfortunately. Upon a routine supply stop in Seoul, Griffin stumbles upon a young shoeshine boy named Ko Yong Jae and, feeling an instant sense of trust in him, hires him, nicknames him "Butch" and takes him back to the camp. After managing to allow the boy to stay so long as he stays out of trouble, Butch earns his keep by becoming the houseboy for Griffin and several other soldiers. They endure a few hardships together but above all, they become close friends despite a language barrier. About a year later, after their friendship developed into a surrogate father-son relationship, Griffin rotates back to the states and loses touch with Butch. Griffin struggles with PTSD back home and frantically opens his own service station and even marries a nice, church-going local girl. From here on the book loses it's mainstream appeal.

This book is saturated with Christian doctrine and religious references that tend to alienate the reader. It slows down the narrative. It's also frightfully repetitive. Not only does the tale of searching for the houseboy get retold five times before the first chapter even starts (counting the cover, back cover, foreword, preface, and prologue), many of the same Bible verses are quoted throughout the story in vaguely inopportune times; Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 is listed at least three times. While I certainly have no qualms with a man's religious faith and the strength that one gathers from it, this book's story is bogged down by it's choice of literary detours.

After a bumpy middle, the story resumes with Griffin suddenly inventing those cardboard floor mats you might have seen at the car dealership. You know, those temporary mats that keep your car's carpet clean from the service technician? Griffin invented that.

Flash forward to sudden wealth, Griffin contemplates going back to Korea to find Butch. After a hesitate travel commitment, he joins a group of religious tourists who plan on visiting East Asian churches. Griffin agrees to come along as a motivational speaker but he also has personal plans to find Butch, despite so many telling him the impossibility of doing so.

Anticlimactically, Griffin convinces a local paper to run a short piece about his plea, Butch's cousin reads it and within a day, they are reunited. Not much of a search, really. Butch has done well for his family and drives a taxicab. The two are reunited. No canvasing the streets. No private detective. Just a small story in an even smaller newspaper.

This part of the tale happens just past the halfway point in the book and yet nothing much else progresses past this point. Butch is elated to be reunited with the former soldier who showed him kindness and Griffin is simply amazed at Butch's presence. That's what gets repeated over. Griffin can't believe Butch is here. He can't believe he's back in Korea. He can't believe this is where such and such happened. The author assumes entirely too much background information and leaves the reader wishing that he were in on the excitement. It's hard to relate to Griffin's nostalgia of being back in Korea because he indulged so little in the beginning of the story. It doesn't have that certain empathetic emotional connection that a good story should have. There are moments that were surely emotional for the two men but because the reader hadn't had a chance to get to know the key players well enough, you end up not really caring that they are visiting some obscure village that you didn't know about. Despite a satisfying amount of personal photographs help to accompany the story, I never really got the chance to feel attached to anyone.

A curious oversight is the age of the two men. Griffin was either 18 or 19 when he met Butch and sized him up at around 10. However, the Korean newspaper listed Butch as being 15 at the time. That only makes them a few years apart when they assumed a father-son type relationship. When they meet up again in 1974, their lack of real age gap shows. I wonder why this wasn't addressed?

Impressively, this vanity publishing has gone through several editions. The most current edition that I could find is from 1986 but the original story was written and published in 1974. Each addition has added another chapter to the epilogue but sadly, there weren't many revelations. True stories certainly don't have Hollywood endings and here is proof.

Ultimately, it's a short, forgettable true story that can be finished in one sitting. I really wanted to like this, but in the end, it felt like an elongated newspaper article soaked in Christian rhetoric. It's a touching story that should have been told by someone else.

- - - - - - -

I stumbled across a molded-shut copy of this book in an abandoned house. I was so interested that I tried to find a readable copy at the local library but couldn't find a ISBN. That's because there wasn't one. The best way to get additional copies, it seems, is to write directly to Griffin at 1051 Island Road, Bristol, VA 24201 or by calling 703-466-8080. I don't know if there ever was an another edition after the sixth (1986) edition but I'd be curious to see if anything ever came of Butch and his family. SWere there finally allowed to move to America?

I should point out that the protagonist was born in June of 1932 and appears to be a good, upstanding man. He should not be confused with the formerly disgraced politian of the same name born in August of 1935.

Book Review: Sex Among Allies

Title: Sex Among Allies
Author: Katharine H.S. Moon
Softcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press (April 15, 1997)
ISBN-10: 0231106432
ISBN-13: 978-0231106436

Case studies are decidedly difficult to objectively review because one isn't just reviewing the accuracy of details and author neutrality but also the writing style and subject matter, as well. A boring case study, important as it may be, might be less entertaining than one of relatively low importance but that is easy to get into. This book is caught somewhere in between the two. Sex Among Allies is, nonetheless, an important study that deals with Korean prostitution around American military installations from the 50s to the late 80s, particularly with their change prompted by the "Nixon" Doctrine of 1971.

The premise that not only did prostitution thrive among American servicemembers and Korean women during this time but that it was sanctioned by the American military and the Korean government is alarming. As such, the illegal business were allegedly managed by local police and enforced by club owners. Negative impacts on society such as rampant spreading of venereal disease, racial tensions among white and black soldiers (and local business owners) and the social stigma of association was the women's to bear alone. The book's objectively is called into question by placing virtually all blame on both governments' efforts to promote prostitution as a means of recreation for soldiers; the women to sacrifice themselves to be "personal ambassadors" from Korea. Many of these objections were addressed in a mass cleanup effort in the early 1970s.

The story Professor Moon tells, however, is unmistakably genuine. The social stigma of such work forced many women, mostly from low educational backgrounds, to be stuck in a constant cycle of debt and abuse with little chance to better themselves. The book's position is clear: the unfortunate circumstances regarding the shantytowns that erected around U.S. bases places an even shame on all parties involved; those who set up shop and those who patroned the illict clubs. However dated the book may be, as many of these camps have since shut down or moved, the book's mere existence surely are evidence of change.

This book isn't exactly coffeebook reading material. However biased the view taken in the book may be, the history of such affairs and the arguments presented are well-sourced and difficult to fully refute. Take the book's stance with caution but embrace it for exposing a shameful past in hopes of not repeating it.
 
- - -

Alright, alright. No dirty sailor jokes. I started reading this book before entering the service and finished it almost half a year later. I was a little squeemish reading it on base but I keep to myself mostly.

Professor Moon mentions Camp Arirang (1995) but I could only find this trailer. I'd like to know more about what all has changed since the book (and documentary). Are things as bleak these days as they seem in the study?

Book Review: The Reluctant Communist

Title: The Reluctant Communist: My Desertion, Court-Martial, and Forty-Year Imprisonment in North Korea
Author: Charles Robert Jenkins, Jim Frederick
Softcover: 232 pages
Publisher: University of California Press (March 25 2008)
ISBN-10: 0520259998
ISBN-13: 978-0520259997

Former U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Robert Jenkins' shocking story of dishonorable defection, perpetual hardship, and an unlikely romance unfold in this ghostwritten memoir told now decades after his "release" from North Korea. TIME magazine correspondent Jim Frederick assists in crafting a regret-filled attempt of rectifying Jenkins' 1965 defection and subsequent life across the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) into hostile territory. His life in North Korea was indeed extraordinary but is everything what it seems on the surface?

Jenkins' originally published his memoir in Japanese in 2005 and was then translated into Korean in 2006; this English language edition tells his unbelievable story from his unlikely desertion while leading a patrol, to his discovery of three other American defectors, to his adjustment to new life in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Because of his unique willingness to cross over, Jenkins and the other defectors occupied a unique position in North Korean society; not fully trusted yet strangely revered as "Cold War trophies". Some even rose to celebrity status after portraying despicable foreigners in popular propaganda films.

Although Jenkins mostly lived in rather spartan conditions, he's quick to point out that others in the North Korean countryside were not as fortunate during times of famine. His apparent ineffective brainwashing sessions were constant and government-assigned minders persistently dictated his day-to-day life. His residence changed often as did his assigned jobs; sometimes making fish nets other times teaching English. However regimented his life was, he still found himself in a situation to fall in love with a Japanese abductee. What happens when Jenkins leaves North Korea I'll leave for the reader to discover.

His narration is seductively easy to follow and makes appropriate detours when explanations are necessary to clarify context. The reader is cautiously drawn in to empathize with Jenkins and his plight. His story is told simply with few obvious embellishments. However, I'm still not fully convinced that the whole story is being fully disclosed. Jenkins' relationship with the other Americans is of particular interest, partly because some of the accounts conflict with what fellow defector Joe Dresnok recalls in the 2006 documentary Crossing the Line.

What concludes is a peculiar tale of almost Hollywood caliber. Reportedly, American film producer Brett Ratner has secured the rights to make a film adaption of Jenkins' story. One can only hope it's better than Tower Heist. That's not asking for much.

- - -

I've been interested in this story since I first came across it a few years ago. I posted about Joe Dresnok and Robert Jenkins before but after seeing Crossing the Line (2006) I always wanted to hear a different side of the story. The excellent British documentary focuses on Dresnok's story while Jenkins' 2008 memoir tells his side. There are a few conflicting accounts which I will leave open for those curious.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and wished I picked it up sooner. It gave me more of a rounded view of the life those four men lived. I only wish we could have known more about Abshier and Parish.

Book Review: Chain of Amber

Title: Chain of Amber
Author: Mary Linley Taylor
Softcover: 169 pages
Publisher: The Book Guild Ltd (1992)
ISBN-10: 0863326064
ISBN-13: 978-0863326066

Mary Linley Taylor was an amazing woman who lived an extraordinary life. This book is her post-humously published autobiography which primarily focuses on her life in Korea in the early 1900s with her husband, gold mining entrepreneur and foreign correspondent Albert Wilder "Bruce" Taylor.

Mary's journey starts with her privileged upbringing in England and moves to her involvement with an international acting company which brings her to India, Japan and eventually, "settles" in Korea. Her sunny disposition combined with a feisty rebellious streak provides the reader with plenty of witty observations and humorous anecdotes. Indeed, Mary had remarkable experiences all over the peninsula. Her interactions both with notable Koreans and distinguished foreigners are testament to her character. A fearless traveler, she traversed dangerous mountain trails, roughed it in gold mining camps, and even traveled to England via Siberia; clearly she was resilient for a lady of her social standing. Furthermore, she was compassionate to Koreans and held an atypical affinity for her adoptive home away from home.

Having been well educated, her writing is thoroughly readable and detailed for being collected from her personal diary. For example, a charming reoccurring theme surrounds her lifelong attraction to amber and is used throughout the book. Taylor was also an accomplished artist and her sampled work is impressive. Although sparse, the illustrations and photos included illuminate her narrative and give life beyond mere description to many of her friends and locations.

A criticism I should point out includes her frustratingly lack of dates in many of her entries. It's difficult to pinpoint when exactly certain events occurred. Otherwise, there's sufficient surrounding context. Another gripe is the book's limited British pressing; this isn't an easy book to find.

Chain of Amber has plenty excitement, romance and tragedy to go around. Mary was an integral member of the Seoul foreign community for years and this book is her lasting legacy. Her exciting life abroad can be optimistically summed up in her own words: "These are the experiences that lend a fairy-tale quality to life in the Orient. In some ways, one gets so much more than one expects and, in others, so much less than what one counts on, that life is filled with infinite variety". Perhaps more poignant of a close comes from her last chapter "...a longing came to me to share my life experiences with others...the thought crystallized into a need...'I'll write a book,' I said out loud, 'whether anyone reads it or not.'"

- - -

I pulled another "If you give a mouse a cookie". After I finished Chain Of Amber, I noticed that Mrs. Taylor did not have a wikipedia entry, despite plenty of information available. So, I created a rough startup page that I hope grows into a proper reference over time.

I can't remember who or what encouraged me idea to pick up this book, but I was pleasantly surprised to finally get around to reading it. I worried that it would be full of hoity-toity judgments of barbaric Koreans but it couldn't be further from that. It's an amazing memoir. For one, Mrs. Taylor lived an adventurous life, wrote of her experiences with great emotion and left behind a wonderful testimony of her travels. Also, we share the same birthday.

I was amused at how many of her observations from almost a hundred years ago are still relevant today. Here is one especially funny observation about Engrish advertisements in Japan:

• "The shop signs seemed funnier than ever to me that day: Tom Cock-Eye, the tailor, advertised in English, The Monkey Jacket Make for Japanese; a ladies' tailor sign read: Ladies have fits upstairs, there was also a photographer's sign which read: Photographer Executed Here, and a barbor shop announced that he was, A First Class Head Cutter." (p.34)

I was surprised to discover that their old house is still standing in Jong-no. Had I known that, I would have visited it when I lived in Seoul. Oh well, something to look forward to next time we visit.

There's also a short documentary floating around out there about the house called Mr. Taylor’s House by Mi-Jin Lee and Se Mee Kim of Bassim Media. I can't find it online yet, but it sounds fascinating by the description:

• "There is an old fashioned, western type house in the center of Seoul, South Korea. We are going to meet people who once lived in this house and people who still live in the house. We will follow three of them: an American family, the Taylors who built the house in 1923 and the 92 years old son (Bruce Taylor) who spent his childhood in this house. We will also meet 82 years old inhabitant, Jeong, Wooyoung who has been living in the room, used to be a Taylor’s study for about 40 years and a 28 year-old young man, Choi, Sunghoon who recently moved into this house. Through these people’s personal stories with the house, we will get to know a fascinating aspect of Korea, its momentous history and its future."

Lastly, and most interestingly, while searching for references I was very pleasantly surprised to see that her son has written his own memoir. I surely am going to pick this one up, too.

Book Review: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Title: Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
Author: Barbara Demick
Softcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau (December 29, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0385523904
ISBN-13: 978-0385523905

Award-winning journalist Barbara Demick of the Los Angeles Times' triumphantly successful Nothing to Envy uncovers a romantically human side of North Korea and her disenchanted citizens. Surrounding six multifarious North Koreans' dramatic, decades-long oral histories are brilliantly told starting from humble, loyal beginnings to eventual controversial defection. This memorable documentation of ordinary citizens and their amazing survival through unspeakable danger and life-altering trauma is requesting only a receptive audience.

The reader gains a truly well-rounded viewpoint of the times from six different perspectives. From the propped-up and powdered Pyongyang façade to the gritty and industrial Chongjin rail yards, this overarching story starts in the homes of many ordinary citizens who survived countless obstacles growing up in the notoriously restrictive The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). Some fortunate few were hand-picked to attend prestigious universities while others had practical duties to provide for their families any way possible. Others still, like homeless children infamously known as "kotjebi" (꽃제비), wondered the streets in packs and stole to survive.

Among the personal anecdotes include a dumbfounded medical physician's practical denial of Kim Il-sung's 1994 death. Also, seemingly regardless of social class and family backgrounds, all eventually felt the squeezing grip of famine sweeping across the country in the late 1990s known as the Arduous March. It was through this increasingly inescapable reality that survival became paramount included any and all options; no matter how illegal or dangerous. Each story's journey is more astonishing than the last. Most satisfying is when the reader finds out what they have been up to since the original manuscript was constructed.

Demick's writing style evokes a pleasantly familiar tone. While reading, I drew respectable comparisons to John Hersey's groundbreaking classic Hiroshima. Lo and behold, Demick was a student of Hersey's which makes Nothing to Envy a successful nod of appreciation to his tutelage. Like Hiroshima, you'll find a similar chronological pacing of alternating narrators as well as develop a personal attachment to the people who tell their remarkable journey in amazing lucidity.

I can recommend this book without reservation as it will obviously appeal to human rights minders, North Korean experts looking for oral history reports, and a handful of academics interested in totalitarian dictatorships, wide-spread economic systems failure, and human trafficking. I also want to earnestly suggest this book for the intimate character-driven narratives that appeal to any and all. You feel for this people. You realize that they are no different than any other ordinary people born into extraordinary circumstances. Some were disillusioned with their government from the get-go while others were staunch supporters of their ideology. For better or for worse, their sincere stories are unabashedly told here.

- - -

For those that can stomach their sadness, you are rewarded with their joys. I was reminded of 2008's 크로싱 (Crossing). For those who have seen it, you have any idea of what to expect.

I applaud Ms. Demick for her well-deserving work.