Maxine Hong Kingston

Maxine Hong Kingston

“To me success means effectiveness in the world, that I am able to carry my ideas and values into the world – that I am able to change it in positive ways” (Maxine Hong Kingston). Maxine Hong Kingston was an author who changed the world with every book she wrote. Her ideas that grew from her child hood stories were the reasons why she succeeded. In 1976, Kingston turned her love for writing into a victorious profession when she published her first book, The Woman Warrior. Sharing her experiences in every piece of work, she helped inspire all new writers to share their own matchless experiences. Kingston allowed us to see who she really was by the way her Chinese heritage was reflected in her writings. Her stories opened a door into her life that told us what she was all about. She was an amazing writer, to turn not only one child hood story into award winning book, but almost every story she knew. Kingston once said, “The difference between mad people and sane people is that sane people have a variety when they talk-story (tell stories). Mad people have only one story that they talk over and over.” Maxine Hong Kingston just didn’t have one story; she had a colossal mixture of stories.

Maxine Hong Kingston was born on October 27, 1940 in Stockton, California. Even though she grew up a sun loving California girl, mother, Tom Hong, and father, Ying Lan Hong, made sure she knew plenty about where her family came from. They would delight Kingston every day with new stories of her families’ ancestor’s experiences, as well as a good number of Chinese folk tales. From the early age Kingston found herself intrigued with the stories of times past. There was no doubt in Kingston’s mind that one day she would share these stories with the world. As Kingston aged, her love for the supernatural Chinese folk tales came second to her allure about the true secrets of her ancestor’s struggles. According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, “Kingston was...