Bette Bao Lord ( Chinese: 包柏漪,

Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese fo ...

: Bāo Bóyì; born November 3, 1938) is a Chinese-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer and civic activist for human rights and democracy.

Early life

Lord was born as Bette Bao in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. With her mother and father, Dora and Sandys Bao, and her younger sister, Cathy Bao, she came to the United States at the age of eight when her father, a British-trained engineer, was sent there in 1946 by the

Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...

to purchase equipment. In 1949 Bette Bao Lord and her family were stranded in the United States when

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...

and his communist rebels won the civil war in China. Bette Bao Lord has written eloquently about her childhood experiences as a Chinese immigrant in the post-World War II United States in her autobiographical children's book '' In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson''. In this book she describes her efforts to learn English and to become accepted by her classmates and how she succeeds with the help of baseball and

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

. Lord went to public schools in Brooklyn and New Jersey. She earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in Political Science at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 1959 and a master's degree from the

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy is the graduate school of international affairs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The School is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations and is well-ranked in it ...

in 1960.

Career

Lord worked as Assistant to the Director at the

East-West Center East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *''East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salma ...

in Hawaii, and as program officer at the

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

for professors in Washington, D.C. aoSansan and Bette Bao Lord (1964/1966), ''Eighth Moon: The True Story of a Young Girl's Life in Communist China'', reprint, New York: Scholastic, "About the Authors", p. 153. In 1962, as refugees surged into Hong Kong, Bette's mother, Dora Bao, conceived and carried out a plan to get her third daughter, nicknamed Sansan (

Putonghua Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...

, ''Sānsān'', "Threethree") (Jean Bao) out of the People's Republic of China. Bette's book, ''Eighth Moon'', written with Sansan's help, tells Sansan's story. Sansan was a bridesmaid at Bette's wedding to Winston Lord, a

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

. Winston became a principal adviser to

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

on relations with the

PRC China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and in 1973, he and Bette had a visit with her family in the PRC, a visit which inspired Bette to write ''Spring Moon''. ''Spring Moon'' (1981), which spans the times from pre-revolutionary China to Nixon's visit, was an international bestseller and

American Book Award The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...

nominee for best first novel. ''The Middle Heart'' (1996) spans 70 years of modern Chinese history, ending in 1989 with the student-led demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. Her children's book, ''In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson'', has become a classic used in schools nationwide. Her true stories of Chinese people, ''Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic'', was also a bestseller and chosen by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' as one of the five best non-fiction works of the year. Ms. Lord's works have received numerous awards and been translated into 15–20 languages. In addition to chairing

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wi ...

, Ms. Lord has served on many other boards including the

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

The Freedom Forum The Freedom Forum is the creator of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., which it sold to Johns Hopkins University in 2019. It is a nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) foundation that advances First Amendment freedoms through initiatives that include the Power Shi ...

, the international

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, the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

, and

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. Bette Bao Lord is a recipient of seven honorary degrees (including Notre Dame,

Tufts Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learnin ...

, and

Pepperdine Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

) and many awards as author, democracy advocate and outstanding immigrant. These include the USIA Award for Outstanding Contributions.

President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

in 1998 presented her the first Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Human Rights and hailed her as "someone who writes so powerfully about the past and is working so effectively to shape the future".

Personal life

Lord is married to Winston Lord, former U.S. Ambassador to China. She has two children, Elizabeth Pillsbury Lord and Winston Bao Lord.

Selected works

* ''Eighth Moon: The True Story of a Young Girl’s Life in Communist China'', by aoSansan as told to Bette Lord story about the escape of Bette's youngest sister New York: Harper & Row, 1964. * ''Spring Moon: A Novel of China'', New York: Harper & Row, 1981, . * '' In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson'', New York: Harper & Row, 1984. * ''Legacies: A Chinese Mosaic'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, distributed by Random House, 1990. * ''The Middle Heart'', New York: Alfred A. Knopf, distributed by Random House, 1996. * ''Exploring Realistic Fiction (Literature and Writing)'', by Bette Bao Lord, Jayne Pettit, Lael Littke, and Donna Perrone, New York: Scholastic, 1999.

References

External links

Biography
* —''Humanities'' magazine,

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...