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 Introduction
to
Ben Fong-Torres Delivered
by Grace Yee,
National Conference Co-Chair
Asian/Pacific American Association
for Advancement at AT&T
July 7, 2000 - Grand Hyatt, San Francisco
Visit Ben's Official Site
AsianConnections.com calls our keynote speaker "our Renaissance
guy." And that pretty much sums up Ben Fong-Torres. This native
of Oakland is the author of four books, including a music biography,
Hickory Wind; a memoirs, The Rice Room: Growing Up in
Chinatown; a history of Top 40 radio called The Hits Just
Keep on Coming, and his latest, Not Fade Away: A Backstage
Pass to 20 Years of Rock & Roll.
But long before writing his first book in 1991, he'd established
himself as a writer and editor at Rolling Stone magazine,
which he joined in 1969. There, his interview subjects included
Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Ray Charles, Paul McCartney, Elton
John, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, the Jackson 5, Linda Ronstadt,
Santana, Marvin Gaye, Ike & Tina Turner, Diane Keaton, and Steve
Martin. The Ray Charles interview won the Deems Taylor Award for
Magazine Writing in 1974.
But while working at the magazine, Ben was also editing and
writing for a Chinatown paper, spending Sundays on the air as a
DJ on the rock station KSAN, and, in the late Seventies, doing on-air
interviews for Evening magazine on KPIX. This was actually
not surprising, since he'd majored in radio-TV-film at San Francisco
State while also editing the campus daily.
After leaving Rolling Stone, Fong-Torres wrote for
such magazines as Esquire, GQ (where he was pop music columnist
for three years), Parade, and TV Guide. In 1983, he
joined the San Francisco Chronicle, where he was a feature
writer and radio columnist until 1992, when he left to write The
Rice Room.
Now, Ben is Editorial Director at myplay.com,
an Internet digital music service with headquarters in Redwood City.
He also is a contributor to AsianConnections.com. And, as Asian Connections
noted, he roams in various fields. We're happy he's roamed here tonight.
Please welcome Ben Fong-Torres.
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