Guest Author Andrew Lam: Bringing a Fresh Perspective and a Hearty Laugh

By Jon Vogels and Betsey Coleman

Two summers ago Betsey met Andrew Lam at UC Berkeley where he was a guest speaker for a group of fifteen teachers about to embark on a trip to Vietnam and Thailand. Andrew’s combination of fascinating information about Vietnam, his personal history, and his winning sense of humor engaged all who interacted with him. Although he typically does not present to high schools, he accepted CA’s offer to come to Denver and speak to our school on October 10.

Andrew was born in Vietnam and came to the United States in 1975 after the fall of Saigon when he was just 11 years old. He recalls being uprooted from a comfortable, happy life and finding himself thrust first into a refugee camp then onto the American scene in northern California. He quickly adapted to his new American life and embraced many aspects of popular culture. A talented student and tri-lingual speaker (Vietnamese, French and English), he entered UC Berkeley as a biochemistry major. Soon, however, he abandoned his family’s dream of a medical career to pursue his passion for writing. He went back to school and earned an MA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Since that time he has been published in many fiction and non-fiction anthologies. His book Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora won the Pen American ‘Beyond the Margins’ Award. Currently, Andrew is a syndicated writer and an editor with New America Media. He is working on a collection of short stories and a novel. He is also a regular commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

For the past two years, freshmen have been reading Andrew’s essays and stories as part of the Coming of Age in the World curriculum. His moving short story “Show and Tell” has been a particular favorite. Perfume Dreams has also been a summer reading choice. This year students in all grades read his work and watched segments from the PBS documentary My Journey Home, for which a film crew followed him back to Vietnam. The 8th grade also read selections from his work, and the 4th and 5th grades studied material about Viet Nam before he came to visit and speak to them.

We were also pleased to collaborate with another ACIS school, Graland Country Day, who helped share costs and publicity for the event. At Graland, Andrew met with 8th grade classes and spoke to a collection of parents and students on Friday night. Our global connections are extending across the world, but also just across town, as many local area schools are sharing in these best practices.

We were especially pleased that CA’s Vietnamese-American students (now more than a dozen in the school) could be supported by Andrew’s presence. Much of his personal experience was similar to those of their own families. The upper school diversity group benefitted from his appearance as well, and he answered questions and signed books at another lunch-time session with them. Senior Minh Ha was a special student ambassador and helped with many of the logistics of the visit.

At the end of his busy day, Andrew Lam commented that he thought our kids asked better, more thought-provoking questions than his college audiences. He certainly connected with kids (and adults) of all ages. His profound insights on language, culture, being a writer, and becoming an American on will long be remembered.

For a student perspective, please consider the following:

By Olivia Shaw, ‘12

The arrival of Andrew Lam as our guest author in October was highly anticipated. Many of the upper school students had read his book Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora, as well as his short story, “Show and Tell.” The students also learned a lot about Vietnam prior to his visit. One might infer that, given the traumatic events Mr. Lam endured throughout his life, he would be a jaded, dramatic pessimist. But as soon as he arrived at Colorado Academy, the students and faculty discovered that he had a humorous, sunny personality. Of course, he was not joyous about the tragedies that he and his people have had to go through, but he does not live in the past. Rather, he entertained the CA community with his stories and insights.

Mr. Lam first talked with the freshman class. He read to the students an essay about San Francisco, where he grew up after being evacuated to America. He really emphasized the point that everyone has a story—this was one of the important things he learned growing up in the culturally rich city of San Francisco. The freshmen got to ask him different questions, which he answered with exuberance and humor. He also shared with us how he chose his American name; when he was learning French in Vietnam, he was given the name André, and he simply added a ‘w’ when he emigrated from his country. He tried to teach the students how to say his Vietnamese name, but it was very difficult to pronounce.

When Mr. Lam talked with the entire upper school, he shared several hilarious stories about his growing up. One of his fantasies about America before he moved was based on Baskin-Robbins’ “33 Flavors of Ice Cream”—he even had a poster of a gigantic ice cream cone in his room in Vietnam (there they were limited to vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream). He also shared that he was a big fan of Star Wars and science fiction in general. He loved the imagination and magic that they encompassed, something he also discovered as he was learning English. Initially he worried that his speaking too much English was causing his voice to change, but it was simply bad timing: he was going through puberty when he was learning the language!

Mr. Lam also spoke to two different upper-level English classes and met with Faces of Diversity (previously CEROC) at lunch. He explained why he had such a passion for language and learning English. When he moved to America, the students at his school asked him many questions: where he was from, why he had moved, and more. He strived to be able to share his story and communicate with the kids that wanted to talk to him. One summer, he took a novel and typed it all out on his typewriter to help him with learning the language. That is one way he developed his interest in writing. Mr. Lam also shared that he feels that art in general is the human soul in its most raw form.

Andrew Lam’s hilarious stories and many insights made an impact on the CA community in providing the students and faculty with a cultural story that will never be forgotten.