Paula Kamen and Iris Chang were friends and journalism majors at U of I, and both went on to write a few books. Iris committed suicide in 2004 after suffering from depression, and Paula wrote a eulogy for her in Salon.com, which turned into a recently published book called Finding Iris Chang. In a weird twist of fate, Paula happens to be my brother's high school classmate, while Iris is my sister-in-law's childhood friend and high school classmate (I was friends with Paula's brother, in case you were interested!).
Paula's doing a reading from the book at Women and Children First on November 8 at 7:30pm. She is a self-described author, lecturer, playwright, feminist, humorist, and journalist. The book is a memoir of their friendship, but it also looks at bipolar disorder and the Asian attitude toward mental illness.
This is Paula's description of the book:
The book is about my real-life search to connect the dots about the mysterious 2004 suicide of my friend, bestselling Chinese-American writer Iris Chang, the author of the Rape of Nanking. Meanwhile, it profiles her glorious life -- and the tremendous burdens -- she had in becoming a superhuman symbol of activism and social justice to the Asian community. The book seeks to clear up rampant misunderstandings about the bipolar disorder, combined with hormonal events, that claimed her life. It also explores how journalists can survive in the long-term covering dark topics, without being harmed by the toxic effects of their subjects. The book is based on a eulogy I wrote about her for Salon.com.If you're going, let me know! I'll be there with my sister-in-law.