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Tim Prentice and I may both be described as the sociable and amicable type of guys among mostly serious intellectual classmates at Yale’s School of Architecture in the late 1950s. We were the Happy Go Lucky fellows who enjoyed making friends as well as learning from esteemed professors. We had genuine rapport and always wished each other well.

Prentice and Chan and Copelin and Lee were both upstart Architectural firms in NewYork City – college buddies suddenly became keen competitors. Both firms were Included in the 40 Under 40 Exhibit by the Architectural League of New York.. But Prentice and Chan was always half a step ahead of us in terms of getting significant commissions in the New York Region.

Most sincerely I want to express deep gratitude to Tim, for his showing true Friendship and Support during our firm’s growing years. Tim recommended several Architectural commissions to Copelin and Lee ( including the prestigious new Air France’s Sales Headquarters in NYC ). On a personal level, he also recommended me to become a Member of the American Arbitration Association.

I am drawn to Tim’s wonderful Happy Personality. He seems to be always so Happy & Free in Spirit. He is most creative in his kinetic sculptures.

And look at his “Flying Carpet :

Tim Prentice Bio. :

Tim Prentice, kinetic sculptor, received a Masters Degree in architecture from Yale in 1960 and founded the award-winning architectural firm of Prentice & Chan in 1965.
        Ten years later, he established a studio in Cornwall, Connecticut to design and fabricate kinetic sculpture. His corporate clients include American Express, Bank of America, Mobil, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard, Wells Fargo, Astra Zeneca, Samsung and Nokia.  In the last few years he has completed installations in Japan, South Korea, Northern Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Cameroon. He currently shows with Maxwell Davidson in New York and is represented in Europe by Miklos von Bartha in Basel.
        He has served on the boards of Hartford Art School of the MOMA Committee on Architecture and Design from 1968 to 1969.  An Adjunct Professor of Design at Columbia University from 1975 to 1980, he is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and President, New York Chapter, A.I.A. (1973-1974). From 1974 to 1978 he was President of the Municipal Art Society of New York.

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Hello Brother Billy,

As promised, here’s the article about Pearl L. Wong. Enjoy!

Pearl L. Wong will be celebrating her 90th birthday this September and we will honor and dedicate a day on behalf of our City and County of San Francisco. The plaque that will be displayed in Chinatown tells a great story about her life. She’s an overlooked Chinese American and one in a zillion !

‘When I was a regular and investor at the then Shanghai 1930 Guanxi Lounge, and after Jazz at Pearl’s had sadly closed, we engaged our dear friend Pearl to continue and promote Thursday night ala Jazz at Pearl’s where she held court with late nights – a fusion of entertainment and Chinese dim sum !’ 

FF, Gregory 

PEARL’S ROOM ( the plaque )
Dedicated to Pearl L. Wong

In the basement of the Great Eastern Restaurant on Jackson Street, Pearl Wong created a jazz club in San Francisco Chinatown in 1984.  At times, the joint was jumpin’ til 4 AM. As proprietor of the long running “Jazz at Pearl’s” on Columbus Avenue in North Beach, Pearl nurtured and elevated the local jazz scene with a listening room to present countless talented musicians including her daughter, vocalist Cookie Wong. Jazz patrons and musicians alike treasured Pearl and her club.

For her vision, tireless efforts, and love for this City, we dedicate this room to Pearl L. Wong.

July 2021
San Francisco 

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NOW, BILLY on Greg Chew :

Although Greg is already a “Senior Bro.” in our FF Fraternity, I have been a “Senior Brother” to him and others like WeiTai Kwok and Tony Keng etc., by almost one generation. However, I often address Greg: ‘Hon. Chew’, as he was appointed S.F. Arts Commissioner in September 2009. I have admired ‘Hon Chew’ not only for his prestigious title, but for a long time for his fame as the creator of the ‘California Dancing Raisins’ Campaign 1985’. He often sees things beyond what we commonly see.

“Some time ago, the grape farmers ( California Raisin Advisory Board ) in the Central Valley of California were facing a huge glut of too many of their sweet products not being sold to consumers. It was known as ‘Nature’s Candy’ through the endless marketing campaigns. The advertising agency that I worked for ten years in the making at Foote, Cone & Belding, S.F. was hired and given the problem, or shall we say, an opportunity to change people’s perceptions, we initially performed numerous focus groups and discovered that raisins even reminded them of rat remains! The creatives were at work and came up with the IDEA to make Raisins cool

Therefore at the ‘pitch’ meeting in Fresno to the farmers, we all played performed the soulful pop hit Marvin Gaye’s   ‘I Heard It Through The Grapevine’ 
and in partnership Will Vinton claymations maker we created the original three raisin characters to perform the song and ran the (TVC’s) nationwide television commercials.

It started a movement as consumers caught on with a wave of many serious followers. 
Many tons of raisins were sold nationally at all the major grocery markets as well as the agency started to merchandise products that were everything related to raisins. 

 If you come across or have collected a pair of ‘Raisin’ sunglasses, car sun shades, a claymation figure set (there’s at least six made), collected all the promos in all of the Sunday comic strip ‘Raisin’ characters, saw many a noted chef, cooking with California Raisins, dressed up for Halloween as a ‘Raisinette’ or hundred of other items from the campaign, we hope it reminds you of that fun time. 

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From  Greg’s Introduction of Pearl L.Wong above, I noted two ‘Significant Comments’:

1) An overlooked Chinese American and one in a zillion and

2) Fusion of Entertainment ( JAZZ ) & Dim Sum.

Indeed, to partner with Sonny Buxton, a Black American Drummer, to present Jazz (the most Innovative & Original part of American Culture) from S.F. Chinatown, a Chinese American setting, was an admirably courageous and humanitarian decision. Indeed, there is still great need today to promote deeper cross-cultural understanding and good feelings among people from different cultures and different racial and gender backgrounds.

Dim Sum is an important part of Chinese Culture and Chinese Culinary Art.  

點心, ( Dim Sum in Cantonese and ‘diǎn xīn’ in Mandarin ) means ‘Touching of the Heart ’. For me the ‘Touching of The Heart’ is indeed the ultimate goal of our Friendshipology Initiative.

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Gregory Chew Bio :

In the world of advertising, Greg was Founding Creative Director of DAE, a full service multicultural advertising firm based in San Francisco, targeting the burgeoning Asian American and Asian consumers worldwide.

Prior to that, he worked for a number of mainstream ad firms and was also the team that created the iconic ‘California Dancing Raisins Campaign.’

In public service, Greg worked in the City and County of San Francisco Mayor’s Office, first appointed as Film Commissioner, to help revitalize the film industry,
Immigrant Rights Commissioner,to fight on behalf of newly arrived citizens, then transitioned over to serve on the Arts Commission, At Large, to champion the arts and culture, visual, performing arts, street artists, including the San Francisco Symphony for all. 

He has invested over a number of restaurants, one of which the runaway success, Betelnut in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow district.

He is an honorary judge of modern cars for the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Owner’s Club for many Concours events.

He has been a frequent guest host for the ‘Asian Comedy Night’ at the legendary Purple Onion, North Beach.

Greg was initial funder of Emmy Award nominee ‘Forever, Chinatown,’ a complex portrayal of a man and his memory in association with Good Medicine Picture Company.

He has taught advertising courses at U.C. Berkeley Extension, San Jose State University, and graduate classes at the Academy of Art University. 

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Now that we are on the cusp of re-opening California, it is time to reflect upon the past year. No parties, gatherings, restaurants, movies, concerts, weddings or libraries. It was largely an introspective year; cooking, biking, reading, hiking, gardening, hobbies, projects and personal growth.

Much will remain with me for the ensuing years as we enter this new phase. Coinciding with my retired neighbor (ex Wall Street veteran) with 2 teenage boys, a wife that works, who is now flushed with free time. Previously, he was a daily gym rat which they have been closed. Paul and I would hike many of the Mid Peninsula Open Space District 26 preserves in the Bay Area. From Bear Creek Redwood Reserve, Fremont Older, Picchetti Ranch, Rancho San Antonio, Steven’s Creek, Russia Hill Ridge, Mount Umunhum and over to Mission Peak in Fremont. Many of the trails are filled with poison oak in the summer, fallen tree limbs, rocks and tree roots breaking the surface as we pass through.

My approaching 70 years of age and Paul, a healthy 55. My stamina is not as in previous years but quite acceptable. Many of our treks were challenging and by conclusion, I was spent. All the while, Paul was eating up the terrain with ease. We always kept a good brisk pace.

It was not at all surprising that I traversed up and down these Mid Peninsula Preserves but my hiking buddy has Macular Degeneration of his eyes since his late 40’s. He can only see shadows with little depth perceptions. Yet, it was always I that weaken or occasionally tripped on the trails but never him. Often times, he would assist me with an arm to get to the top. I am his eyes and guide on these hikes. The appreciation and of each hike is unique with the added dimension of needing to convey the views to my hiking Buddy; the sky, horizon, trees, ravines, hidden dangers on the trails, meadows, cloud formations, animals, flowers, etc., all that we encountered of which we normally take for granted, is now looked upon, analyzed and translated by me.

This makes for smelling the roses even more. Our love for nature, camaraderie, friendship, and conversations makes for the best of hiking partners. Most handicapped people would reside in their homes but not my friend. A hiking Buddy and good friend to boot is a good combination to have. With the upcoming re-opening, we are off to see the Giant’s/A’s game come the end of June. 

“Every day is unique and special”.

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1    A Happy Birthday Greeting from my Dearest Cousin, Ah Millie, from Switzerland :

  ” With so much love, and untold amount of fondness..xxxxxxxxsqueese ”  

2    James Luce and Amalia Pellegrini discovered the term “Friendshipology Friends

“友学 学友

3    Cousin Robert, Yu Zhenguang, son of Li Yun-Shan in Li’s Family K2 Branch -from Shanghai – 坤二房  – 俞真光 – volunteered to be one of our Li/Lee Family Connectors

4    An Amazing Discovery while addressing my Andover Classmates at our 70 th Reunion ( a Zoomed webinar ) .

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This is Part II following Catherine Zhao’s Part I – “ABOUT FRIENDSHIP” posted Jan. 2021

There are people you meet that change your life. There are people you meet that change your perspective. There are people that do both.

Catherine Xiaolin Zhao is one of those people.

I met Catherine in the late summer of 2016. I was fresh out of college and living in NYC. I was full of excitement and fear. I grew up in the Midwest in the United States and hadn’t traveled very much. I felt so overwhelmed by NYC, but I was in awe of it as well. As a kid who once lived in a house that was surrounded by cornfields, I was amazed at the amount of people, places, and cultures in the “concrete jungle.” I was eating alone on the back patio area of Webster Apartment, a wonderful place in midtown Manhattan that provides safe and affordable housing for female professionals, when we met. As an introvert, I remember wanting to quietly eat when along came a chatty and friendly person who ended up becoming one of my best friends. She asked me questions about Oklahoma, and I asked her questions about China.

When I was in elementary school and living in the above mentioned farming community, my family briefly thought we might be relocating to China for my father’s job. I was beyond thrilled. This was right before the Internet started slowly becoming a part of our daily life, so I had to grab the “C” labeled encyclopedia to read up on China. Sadly, we didn’t end up moving there, but my passive yet strong curiosity about China remained. I ended up growing up mostly in Oklahoma.

Catherine knew about the famous musical Oklahoma. Meanwhile, I didn’t understand what Chinese New Year’s really was, and wrongly thought sushi was a popular dish there. Afterwards, I remember calling my mom to tell her that I had made a new friend from China. Over the next few months, Catherine and I, along with some other women, played the role of “tourist” in the Big Apple. Those few months are filled with some of my favorite life experiences. I grew a lot as a person. Being around so many women from so many different countries gave me a different perspective on how America is perceived, in both positive and negative ways, abroad. It made me think more critically about America’s healthcare and college education system. It was such an eye-opening experience in so many ways.

One of the darkest and most surprising moments for me happened on a city bus. Catherine, our mutual friend from Germany, and I were on our way back to our apartment after a fun and adventurous day. Mere seconds after finding our seats, an older woman grew visibly upset that she was having to sit near Catherine. She angrily muttered something as she moved to a different seat on the bus. I was shocked. I couldn’t tell if Catherine had noticed or not. I wanted to say something, but I didn’t know what to say. Was this gross and uncalled for interaction a common experience for my friend? Then I got mad at myself for my own naivety towards the situation. One of my greatest hopes for our present day and future world is that the hearts and minds of hateful individuals begin to soften and open. That they begin to embrace,respect, and love other people and cultures.

Tragic and horrible events continue to teach me the injustices and hate that the Asian community continues to face on a daily basis in the United States and abroad. My sweet, hilarious, and brilliant friend is so much more than a statistic, but every time I hear of violence or racism towards Asians, I think of her. I think of her family. I think of her heart that is so full of love and joy.

May all hearts be more like hers.

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Shaynee Sherwood lives in Kansas City, Kansas where she teaches at a private school that specializes in helping students with learning differences. As someone who is dyslexic herself, Shaynee is a strong advocate for the neurodivergent community. In her free time, Shaynee enjoys writing, yoga, and learning more about herself and the world.

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