Long Island Herald Profile

Reading Leonard Chang's short stories and novels, you notice three recurrent themes: alienation, isolation and loneliness.

The award-winning novelist does not say that he was unhappy growing up in Merrick, but he does believe that his experiences in his hometown affected the tenor of his writing.

"The links between my writing and my early years are more prevalent in my short stories," Chang said. "In the stories, the central characters are often alienated or lonely, and are often the only minorities in their neighborhoods. The link with the novels is less autobiographical, but definitely all of my novels have a sense of isolation in them, either with the central character(s), or just the milieu of the story."

Chang, whose parents emigrated from Korea, grew up in the 1970s and '80s, when few Asian Americans lived in Merrick. "It was an issue being a minority in elementary school in Merrick," he recalled. "I was the only Asian. I remember as a very young child walking down the hallway in Birch, and a bunch of children younger than I turned and pointed at me. I was horrified."

Chang added that his older brother's experiences were even more difficult. "There were lots of fights in elementary school, and my parents would ask why, but I didn't say much," he said. "The battles definitely dealt with race."

Chang found comfort in the hours he spent reading at the Merrick Library, only a block and a half from his house, which he called his second home. "My childhood influenced my writing in many ways, and it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it was because it depends on the writing," he reflected. "But I can say that the easiest link is that reading was an escape and a solace, and writing was a natural extension of that."

By the time he entered Calhoun High, more minorities had moved into the community. Still, he had to work to fit in at school. "One of the things I tried to do was befriend people from different groups, like members of the football team, cheerleaders, musicians and members of the honor society," said Chang, who eventually became president of Calhoun's National Honor Society. "I tried really hard to take on more of a diplomatic role."

Kevin Shinick, who was a friend and classmate of Chang's, remembers him well. "He was too smart to be as cool as he was and too cool to be as smart as he was," Shinick said, adding that he wasn't surprised that Chang went on to be successful in the publishing world. "He was a very sweet and honest guy who was very approachable, which carried a lot of weight in high school."

Chang competed on the district's swim team, and played guitar in a local band. One of his band's songs even played on the radio station WBAB.

His sense of being different, however, remained. Though he rarely spoke of his feelings, he did confide in his best friend, Joe Strauss. "Lenny always had a lot of friends," said Strauss, who is now an attorney at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. "We had a connection where we kind of felt we were a lot different, and we stuck together. Lenny is a complicated guy, and I think some of that stemmed from how serious a person he's always been and how driven he is."

Strauss recalls his friend aggressively pursuing career options, like medicine and business. But secretly, Chang wanted to be a writer. He took a stab at it when he and Strauss attempted to write a book together. "Only then, in high school, did I realize that this was a legitimate and possibly even realistic goal for myself -- to become a writer," Chang said. "But I didn't think it was a profession until Joe and I started writing chapters together."

Chang fondly remembers now retired Calhoun English teacher Milton Klausner, whom he credits with helping him develop his writing. "He was a pivotal teacher for me," Chang said. "He made us write essays two or three times a week to get used to the rigorous practice of writing. He'd critique our stories rigorously aloud sometimes. I e-mailed him to tell him how important he was to me."

Chang didn't show his personal writings to anyone until after college. "Writing was a private act that I was perfecting," he said.

He spent two years at Dartmouth College, but he didn't like the cold weather and had trouble adjusting. So he left Dartmouth, planning to take time off from college. He joined the Peace Corps and was sent to Jamaica.

Working in an office in Kingston, he ran the library and helped to computerize it. "It was a good experience because I had a lot of time for writing," Chang recalled. "I started with short stories, and then I began to think of writing my first novel."

After the Peace Corps, Chang wanted to attend college in an urban environment where he could frequent cafes and bars to gather material for his first novel. He enrolled at Harvard, where he earned a degree in philosophy, and went on to graduate school at the University of California at Irvine.

His first novel, "The Fruit 'N Food," was his graduate thesis. It would prove to be the turning point in his life. Its central character, a clerk at a Korean grocery store, is unprepared for the racial tensions destroying his neighborhood. His journey includes his own personal conflicts with race and class.

"Fruit 'N Food" won the Black Heron Press Award for Social Fiction, and is considered a staple in Asian-American literature classes in colleges across the country. Eleven years after its publication, Chang continues to visit universities to lecture on the book.

His next book was a success as well. "Dispatches from the Cold: A Novel" garnered Chang a San Francisco Bay Guardian Goldie Award for Literature, was optioned by Hollywood and is now in development.

Not all of Chang's novels are about race relations. Equally popular is his detective trilogy, which follows the life of an Asian-American detective, Allen Choice. "I'm interested in people, in how they think," Chang said. "Each book has its own genesis."

Aside from his writing, he teaches in the graduate writing program at Antioch University in Los Angeles. He is a dedicated rock climber, and spends much of his free time at the beach.

Strauss keeps in touch with Chang, though they don't see each other often. "Lenny could have done anything he wanted to," Strauss recalled. "That he became a writer doesn't surprise me."

"The advice I'd give to a kid growing up in Merrick is, don't think that your options are limited by who you are, where you're from or what your parents tell you," Chang said. "Being a writer was extremely difficult in the beginning financially. And it's not an easy life, but it's the best life I can imagine."

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Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
If you know of any Merrick graduates who have gone on to make a difference or are pursuing an unusual career, contact Laura Lane at LLane@liherald.com.

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