Debbie Chin

Author Talk and Book Signing

August 22, 2022 2-4 p.m.

Clarke Historical Museum, Eureka

A free presentation and book signing by author Debbie Chinn, was held at the Clarke Historical Museum, Eureka, CA, on Monday, Aug. 22, from 2-4 p.m. Chinn talked about her recent book, Dancing in Their Light: A Daughter's Unfinished Memoir, which tells the story of  “a proud daughter” of immigrant parents, growing up and performing in her family’s renowned Polynesian nightclub, and the legacy of her family’s many contributions to the American cultural and international scientific landscape – from moo shu pork to NASA’s ‘vomit comet.’

Chinn has had a “distinguished 30 year career as an arts activist, a non-profit consultant, and CEO … championing equity and inclusion.” Initially intending to document her family’s remarkable journey as immigrants in New York, with the renewed rise in anti-immigrant and anti-Asian vitriol, Chinn felt it was especially timely to share what one family could do to assimilate, make significant contributions, and bridge themselves to the larger American culture  in an era when the Chinese were not welcome.