Junichi P. Semitsu (Japanese: 瀬光淳一; Armenian: Ջունիչի Սեմիցու; Greek: Τζουνίτσι Σεμίτσου; Hebrew: יוניצי פ סמיצו) is a professor of law at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

and the exclusive blogger for

The Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Strayer ...

. He co-created the pop culture and politics blog, Poplicks.com, with Oliver Wang. He also previously served as the Director of

June Jordan June Millicent Jordan (July 9, 1936 – June 14, 2002) was an American poet, essayist, teacher, and activist. In her writing she explored issues of gender, race, immigration, and representation. Jordan was passionate about using Black English ...

's Poetry for the People at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He also appeared as a contestant on ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

'' on January 11 and 14, 2008.

Biography

Junichi P. Semitsu was born in

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He grew up in

Hanford, California Hanford is the most populous city and the county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 57,990 at the 2020 United States census, ...

and attended Hanford High School. He received a B.A. in economics from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

and a J.D. from

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...

. Semitsu studied creative writing under Professor

while a student at the

. In 2001, when Professor Jordan went on leave, she nominated Semitsu to direct the

Poetry for the People Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

program that she created and to serve as her successor. Semitsu directed the program from 2002 to 2005. In March 2006, he married poet Dima Hilal in

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Located in Southern California along the Pacific Ocean, this seaside resort city has a mild year-round climate, scenic coves, and environ ...

Blogger for the Dixie Chicks

Semitsu was hired by

MSN MSN is a web portal and related collection of Internet services and apps provided by Microsoft. The main webpage provides news, weather, sports, finance and other content curated from hundreds of different sources that Microsoft has partnere ...

and the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. The band consists of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and Emily Stra ...

in 2006 to join them on their Accidents & Accusations Tour, their promotional activities for ''

Taking the Long Way ''Taking the Long Way'' is the seventh studio album by American country music group Dixie Chicks. Released on May 23, 2006, through Columbia Nashville, it was also the group's last album released under the “Dixie Chicks” name. The album deb ...

'', awards show appearances, and for other appearances to write about the experience. Semitsu is effectively the first embedded blogger to follow a band for an extended period of time. One of Semitsu's more notable entries include how he helped

Emily Robison Emily Burns Strayer ( Erwin, previously Robison; born August 16, 1972) is an American songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the country band the Chicks, formerly known as the Dixie Chicks. Strayer plays banjo, dobro ...

write an apology to

Barbara Walters Barbara Jill Walters (September 25, 1929December 30, 2022) was an American broadcast journalist and television personality. Known for her interviewing ability and popularity with viewers, she appeared as a host of numerous television programs, ...

, which was subsequently read on ''

The View ''The View'' is an American talk show created by broadcast journalist Barbara Walters. , in its 28th season, the show has aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC as part of the network's ABC Daytime, daytime programming block since August ...

''. Of the experience, he wrote, "I am supposed to help world-famous rock star

write a letter to world-famous television personality Barbara Walters. Suddenly, I have become the ghostwriting mustard softening the beef in between a superstar white bread sandwich. This previous sentence is proof that I should not use any metaphors in the letter."

Honors

Semitsu received the

Marion Rice Kirkwood Moot Court Prize for best brief and best individual oral argument.Stanford Law School. (1 June 1999
Law School celebrates Commencement: 6/99
''Stanford News.'' Accessed 1 December 2007. While teaching in the African American Studies Department at U.C. Berkeley, he was selected as one of the Heroes among the

U.C. Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley ...

faculty.UC Berkeley News. (18 January 2006
Heroes among the UC Berkeley faculty
''UC Berkeley News.'' Accessed 1 December 2007. Semitsu was crowned the "Funniest Lawyer in San Diego" in March 2008 when he took first prize in the LAF-OFF (Lawyers Are Funny) stand-up comedy competition at the House of Blues San Diego.

References

External links

Personal WebsiteDixie Chicks MSN site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semitsu, Junichi 1973 births American academics of Japanese descent American people of Armenian descent American people of Greek descent Living people Stanford Law School alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of San Diego faculty American bloggers People from Fresno, California People from Hanford, California