William Lee (born October 8, 1954) is an American writer. He is the author of three books. He is a former member of the San Francisco Chinatown gang that was responsible for the 1977 Golden Dragon massacre.

Biography

Lee grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown, and went to Marina Middle School,

Galileo High School Galileo Academy of Science and Technology, formerly known as Galileo High School, is a public high school located between the Russian Hill and Marina District neighborhoods of San Francisco, California. The school is a part of the San Francisco ...

and was a student majoring in psychology at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

when he joined the Chung Ching Yee, also known as the Joe Boys. Although not

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...

, he was questioned by homicide investigators about the 1977 Golden Dragon massacre. The massacre was one of the deadliest in San Francisco History, for which five other Joe Boys were jailed after injuring 15 people and killing 5 others. In 1988, Lee was an employee at

ESL English as a second or foreign language refers to the use of English by individuals whose native language is different, commonly among students learning to speak and write English. Variably known as English as a foreign language (EFL), Engli ...

when former employee Richard Farley fatally shot seven people and wounded four others in a mass shooting at its headquarters. Lee recalled the tragedy in detail and his role in rescuing coworkers in his first book, ''Chinese Playground: A Memoir''.Notes from the Underworld
Announcement of the book's publication was featured on the front page of ''

The San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the H ...

'' and as the cover story in ''AsianWeek.'' Shortly after ''Chinese Playground'' was released, the author and Sergeant Dan Foley of the SFPD's Asian Gang Task Force appeared on KPIX's Bay Sunday (

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

affiliate) where they discussed the book and the Golden Dragon massacre.

Career

Lee is the author of three books. His first, ''Chinese Playground: A Memoir'' (1999) is a memoir of gang life in 1960s and 1970s San Francisco Chinatown which caused him to be approached and threatened by former gang associates who told him he should not have written the book and made veiled threats against him and his family. He is also the author of ''Born to Lose: Memoirs of a Compulsive Gambler,'' (2005) which details his 40-year gambling addiction and recovery. Lee's latest book is ''Born-Again Buddhist.'' He has written numerous articles for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' and ''

AsianWeek ''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English-language print and on-line publication serving East Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian Americ ...

'' and has been featured on the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

, A&E,

Spike Spike, spikes, or spiking may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Books * ''The Spike'' (novel), a novel by Arnaud de Borchgrave * ''The Spike'' (Broderick book), a nonfiction book by Damien Broderick * ''The Spike'', a starship in Peter ...

FOX network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Radio Television Hong Kong Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is the public broadcasting service of Hong Kong. GOW, the predecessor to RTHK, was established in 1928 as the first broadcasting service in Hong Kong. As a government department under the Commerce and Economic ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, and in national print publications. Lee is the principal of Bill Lee and Associates, a senior management and technical search firm based in California. He has also counseled serious offenders at the Juvenile Justice Center (YGC) and

Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...

Juvenile Hall.

Works

* ''Chinese Playground: a Memoir'', 1999 * ''Born to Lose: Memoirs of a Compulsive Gambler'', 2005 * ''Born-Again Buddhist: My Path to Living Mindfully and Compassionately with Mood Disorders'', 2014

References

External links

Facebook Author Page
*
''Inside Chinatown's gangs''
a

article {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Bill 1954 births Living people American computer businesspeople American memoirists American technology company founders American technology chief executives American writers of Chinese descent Former gang members Organized crime memoirists Triad members San Francisco State University alumni Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area