Hello AACP Newsletter Readers.

Happy Halloween!

I don’t want to jinx this, but I think I’m on schedule to get this newsletter out before the end of October with some time to spare (no need to use midnight Hawaii Time as the deadline :). We took a circuitous route to finishing this newsletter, but if you’re reading this on Halloween or earlier, we got it done in the right month. Yay!

When a friend of ours suggested the idea for our first article, I didn’t think we were going to be able to work on it, but quite fortunately we did.

Veterans Day is November 11th and as such our first article, An Interview With Filmmaker David Brodie On His Documentary About Vietnam War Veteran Bruce Nakashima, is about an AAPI veteran.

By one estimate from the Library of Congress, roughly 35,000 Asian Americans served in the Vietnam War. I don’t think this number includes all the South East Asians that fought with the US, and later became US Citizens. I don’t think this number even includes Pacific Islander US Citizens.

Often our first inclination is to only remember and honor the highly decorated veterans when we recount the past. As a result, the stories of the average soldiers and the service people themselves are utterly forgotten. Until this film, Bruce Nakashima was one of these individuals. His story is worthy of your attention.

Please think of Bruce Nakashima and other veterans like him this Veterans Day.

With Thanksgiving coming up next month, our featured books for this newsletter are all about food. To go along with this selection our second article is A Review of the Book “Let’s Make Dumplings!” by Christina Tai.

For all of you out there with books you’d like to write about, let this be your example. We are open to your reviews. We’d especially like to hear about new books that you have read, even the bad ones. This information will give us insights about what to feature and to bring to events. Perhaps we can even match you with an author that you can interview.

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Among the books that we are featuring I’d like to call your attention to Grace Lin’s new book, Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods. Grace Lin has written and illustrated numerous wonderful children’s and middle grade books. Now with her new book she is blending her story and myth telling talents with the subject of Chinese American food.

Mango and Peppercorns is both a memoir and a cookbook by Tung Nguyen. She emigrated from Saigon nearly 50 years ago and co-founded an award winning Vietnamese restaurant in Miami with Katherine Manning (co-author of this book). Kathy was a graduate student and waitress in 1975 and helped Tung resettle in America.

Plant-Based India is a 2023 James Beard Award book nominee. It is filled with 100 vegan recipes that are stunningly photographed. Its author, Dr. Sheil Shukla is an internal medicine physician that learned to cook from his ba (grandmother) over summers in Mumbai. Through his medical training, he learned the power of the plant-based diet to prevent and manage illnesses which brought him back to his cultural culinary heritage.

Simply Korean is by Aaron Huh who is chef that focuses on teaching simplified cooking techniques with this cookbook and his YouTube Channel Aaron and Claire. Simply Korean contains shortcuts and formulas for making dishes more flavorful and delicious, while also reducing prep time.

Hawaii's Community Cookbook is an anthology of the best recipes from community cookbooks throughout Hawaii. The selected recipes reflect the diverse cultures and cuisines that make up Hawaii today.

We also feature two great desert cookbooks - Mayumu: Filipino American Desserts Remixed and Tanoshii: Joy of Making Japanese-Style Cakes & Desserts.

Check out these books and all the other wonderful books featured this month.

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Thank you Christina for your book review. Words cannot adequately express my appreciation.

Thank you very much David Brodie for doing an interview with us and for your wonderful film project. Your work is helping to preserve the memories of Bruce Nakashima and a slice of Asian American history.

Thank you Judy Kajiwara for suggesting I do the interview with David. Your feedback was very useful.

Thank you Mina for your assistance with this interview and newsletter. Your help and feedback is always very appreciated.

Thanks Philip, Susan, and Harrison for your assistance too.

Thank you JK Yamamoto of The Rafu Shimpo Daily News for reposting our April 2023 newsletter article about the passing of Florence and Mas Hongo on your online edition. Florence and Mas appreciated the work you do and the support you've given AACP over the years.

That’s all for now.

Have a great Halloween and Thanksgiving, and remember our vets!

Oh, for all of you that are participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), good luck and happy writing!