Albert Lew Around the World
Meghan Forbes spent one memorable afternoon this winter in the home of Albert Lew, and brings us here the most poignant bits of that conversation.
Albert Lew was born in the United States to Chinese immigrant parents, in Los Angeles’ Chinatown before the onset of the Great Depression. Like many other immigrant families, his sailed back to China when things got too tight, and there they lived for several years. However, with the death of his father, and the subsequent financial hardship that that brought upon his mother, Mr. Lew was forced to return to LA at the age of thirteen to work in the Sun Wing Wo general store, which now stands as the Chinese American Museum Los Angeles. Mr. Lew’s return to the U.S. marked the last time he would ever see his mother, and he embarked on a life of much travel, many adventures, and plenty of near death experiences (none of the latter realating to his time served in World War II). Mr. Lew has traversed the Pacific countless times as passenger and navy officer, and has sailed to his final stop in Alhambra, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife of sixty years.
Tags: LA, meghan forbes, morning edition
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