by
Tommy Jieqin Wu
Originally this autobiography was a means of filling out the past seventy years with words, but as I wrote it, I came to realize how deeply my memories still affect my heart. I have experienced many hardships throughout my life that are both strange and familiar to me, and some that the reader might find a little difficult to believe. I first started the book in 1985, which was around the same time that I received an invitation to be a guest lecturer on sculpture at the University of Kansas.
My colleague, Zhang Zhao Xu and I were commissioned to do a bronze bust sculpture of the American journalist Edgar Snow. His Memorial Fund is located in his hometown, Kansas City, and when we completed the tribute in 1989, I was able to return to the United States for the first time in almost fifty years. I left Beijing just weeks after the Tien An Men (Gate of Heavenly Peace) unfortunate tragedy, and along with the bronze, I also brought the first draft of A Sparrow's Voice which came at a cost of much sweat and anguish.
I want to thank the many people who have helped me, including Professor Roy Gridley and his wife Professor Marilyn Gridley, Robert Farnsworth, Paul Trittin and Michael Corbin. I originally wrote the book in English, which is my second language, so I hope that the words adequately respect and represent both the personal nature of my experiences, as well as the Chinese history and culture within which they took place. I have tried to tell my story as objectively and accurately as possible, both the good and bad, but primarily just what I can remember best. I will forever be learning from my journey, and after reading it, I can only hope that you will understand the importance of truth always prevailing. “Setbacks are great opportunities to better understand the world in which we live, and to learn how to travel the road of life as fully aware of what it means to be a human-being alive today.”
Tommy Jieqin Wu
Chongqing, Sichuan China
January 1999
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