Background Information

Family History A - Photo of a document compiled by my cousin Julian (referred to as Uncle Julian in the book as he was of an older generation from my father), and written for my father (reference at the top). This part of the document shows the names of my great grandparents, my father (David Chao-Sai Kwan) and his siblings (older half-brothers).

Most importantly this document mentions my father's birth mother (Marianne in the book was actually Marion Larvel who was born in Harbin and was Serbian rather than Swiss). Growing up, I always thought of Ellen as my grandmother. I never knew about Marion until I was in university and we were originally told she was "white Russian", probably because she was born in Harbin. Then we were told that she was Swiss (as it is noted in the book), but this is probably due to her running away with a Swiss man. Finally, I have discovered this document which notes that she was of Serbian descent, which was news to me (July 2014).

Note that "Michael David Kwan" is actually a pen name rather than my father's birth name.

Family History B - 2nd part of the document which shows the names and birth order of 7 of the 13 siblings of my grandfather (John YL Kwan who is #6 on the list).

Family History C - 3rd part of the document which shows the names of the other 6 siblings of my grandfather John YL Kwan. Growing up, I remember being told repeatedly that all 13 children on my father's side of the family were all male, but this document shows that two of them were actually female.

Note that in the book, my father mentions uncles #12 and #13 in Shanghai (Chapter 17), but #12 in the family was female. It is more likely that it was actually uncle #11 in the story (Kum Lin) who is noted to be living in Shanghai.

My Father's Grandmother (Chun Kum) - In Chapter 17, my father makes his way to Shanghai to live with his older half-brother Albert (Note - my father changed many people's names in the book, so Albert in the book is my uncle William in real life). David eventually gets to meet his father's mother, the matron of the family pictured here at a much younger age (she is in her 80's in the story).

My Father's Grandfather (Seu Ping Kwan) - My Great Grandfather is only mentioned once in the book, in Chapter 17 when my father goes to Shanghai. His grandfather had already passed away by that time, so his wife (pictured above) was in charge of the family. Note the similarity in features between my father David, and my Great Grandfather pictured here.

Tianjin Lion's Club - My grandfather John YL Kwan started the first Lions Club in China in the 1930's (Chapter 6). This photo was taken in Tianjin/Tientsin with my grandfather sitting in the middle of the front row.

Tianjin Lion's Club Railway Poster - Photo and cartoon honouring my grandfather's work with the northern railways and Tianjin/Tientsin Lions Club from 1938. My father David would have been 4 years old at the time.

Banquet - Formal dinner photograph, perhaps for the Lion's Club or some other organisation. It is unclear where this photo was taken, but it might have been from the big family house in Beijing/Peking. More likely though, it was taken in the family house in Tianjin (which is out of the scope of the book). My grandfather is seated in the middle of the table, on the left of the guest of honour.

My Grandparents in Hong Kong after leaving China - Both my grandmother Ellen and grandfather John eventually made it to Hong Kong, where they were reunited with my father David. My father completed much of his schooling in Hong Kong, married, and had his first son there (my eldest brother Russel who wrote the Foreward in the Waveland Press publication of "Things"), before emigrating to Canada. Ellen and John moved to Australia where they remained through the last of their days.