Woman Who Could Not Forget (65 page)

A statue of Iris stands near the front of the Memorial Hall for the Victims of Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, China.

Iris and Ying-Ying attending the memorial service for the victims of the Nanking Massacre and photo exhibition on December 13, 2001 in San Francisco.

Iris and Ying-Ying in Champaign-Urbana, 1998.

Ying-Ying’s Chinese article published on May 15, 1998 in the Chinese newspaper
World Journal
Sunday magazine. The article described the mother’s journey with Iris behind the
Rape of
Nanking
book.

A hand-written letter, October 5, 1992.

Iris’s postcard from June 10, 1993.

New York Times
articles on the discovery of John Rabe’s diary, December 12, 1996.

There are many people I would like to thank, as without their support, it would not have been possible to complete this book.

First, my deepest gratitude goes to my husband, Shau-Jin, for his patience and love. He encouraged me to write this book from the very beginning, and for five years he has endured the long hours of endless discussion. He was always supportive and gave me tremendous confidence in finishing this book and was my true champion. And to my son, Michael, whose love helped us get through the most difficult period of our lives after Iris died.

I would like to thank Ken McLaughlin, who was very enthusiastic about the book the first time we met during his interview for a
San Jose Mercury News
article. He edited part of the first draft in the early phase of the book. He also helped me connect with his writer friends. His enthusiasm and his confidence in me will be always remembered.

Thanks to Lara Heimert, the editor-in-chief of Basic Books, who took time to meet with me and encourage me, and suggested a number of ways to improve my manuscript.

My gratitude also goes to Peter Li, who patiently edited my book proposal. He also spent hours in reviewing the draft of the book and gave me numerous valuable suggestions.

To Ignatius Ding, who gave his critical opinions in improving my book and generously agreed to write a Forward even though his life is so busy. Without his insight and support, this book would have simply been not possible.

My deepest thanks goes to Richard Rhodes, who agreed to write the Introduction as soon as he finished reading the preliminary manuscript. His advice about the publisher process and suggestions for improving my manuscript were invaluable. Shau-Jin and I cherished the meeting with him and his wife, Ginger, in May 2010 in the San Francisco Bay area, and we had such a good time talking about many common known physicists and the memory of Iris.

Special thanks to Dr. Diana Zuckerman, who gave me her invaluable expertise and insight in psychology and psychiatry after she reviewed the last few chapters of my manuscript. And to Dr. Fidelia Butt and Shushih Butt for their many valuable suggestions, and also to Hann-Shuin Yew, whose comments in improving the final version of the manuscript are precious. Thanks also to my brother Bing Chang and to Brett Douglas for his careful reading of my manuscript before publication.

During the writing of this book, many friends gave me encouragement and support. Special thanks to Hua-ling Hu, who patiently and kindly guided me through the publication business over numerous phone calls. Other friends such as Wena Poon and Teresa Yu-pei Singer gave me their legal advice in negotiating the contract, and particularly to Teresa Yu-pei Singer for answering many questions related to legal issues.

I would also like to thank my brothers Cheng-Cheng Chang and Bing Chang and my sister Ging-Ging Chang and Iris’s many cousins who have given me tremendous support after Iris’s tragic death.

I must also extend my gratitude to the many individuals and organizations in the Bay area of California and elsewhere who have supported me since Iris died and have encouraged me throughout the entire process of writing this book: Cathy and David Tsang, Charles and Becky Shao, Eugene Wei, Allen Ho, Betty Yuan, Daisy Chu, Kuo-Hou Chang, Christina Leung and members of Bay area Alliance for Preserving the Truth of Sino-Japanese War (ATPSJW); Rodger Scott, Julie Tang, Susan Hsieh, Lillian Sing, Peter Stanek, Jean Chan and members of The Rape of Nanking Redress Coalition (RNRC); members of Global Alliance for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (GA); Flora Chong, Joseph Wong and members of Canada Toronto Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA); Thekla Lit and members of Canada British Columbia ALPHA; Nancy Lo, Jack Meng, Michael Lee and members of San Diego Association for Preserving Historical Accuracy of Foreign Invasions in China (APHAFIC); Jeannie Liu and members of Los Angeles ALPHA; Victor Yung, Don Tow and members of New Jersey ALPHA; Kaimay Terry and members of Minnesota ALPHA; Sarina Chiang, Albert C. C. Yang, Renne Lu, Agnes Ahn and members of Boston Historical Society; Larry Wu and members of Washington DC Truth Council; Walter Ko, Sherwin Liou and members of St. Louis ALPHA; C. C. Tien, Jack Peng, Kuei-sheng Chang, Jiu-fong Lo, George Koo, Alice Mong, Richard Chu, Cinian Zheng-Dubin, Cindy Chan, Jane Wu, Ping Tcheng, William Jiang, Peter Balakian, Ron Yates, Steve Clemons, Eamonn Fingleton, Victor Fic, James Bradley, John Price, Werner Gruhl, Ted Leonsis, Bill Guttentag, Violet Feng, Richard Sousa, Linda Bernard, Brad Bauer, Elena Danielson, Susan Rabiner, Barbara Masin, James Hong, Sen Luan, Lung-ching Chiao, Isabel Chiu, Duoliang Lin, Amy Hsieh, Xiu-xin Liu, Lucy Yuan, Meihuey Huang, Lisa Chung, Timothy Larson, Bill Spahic, Anne Pick, Bihua Zeng, Connie Wu, Kevin Chiang, Eric Huen, Belinda Zhang, William King, Lolita Chuang, Cynthia Lam, Cynthia Yao and my 1958 high school graduation classmates from Taiwan.

Many thanks also go to Serena Jones who skillfully edited my first draft of the manuscript, and finally, my gratitude to Jessica Case and William Claiborne Hancock of Pegasus Books, who took the risk accepting my book proposal. My special thanks to Jessica Case for her brilliant final editing; her passion and devotion to this project will always be remembered.