Story Behind the Story
Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan
by Chun Yu Wang, as told to Walt F.J. Goodridge
Hi, My name is Walt F.J. Goodridge, the “as told to” author of Chicken Feathers And Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan.
FIRST, ABOUT THE BOOK:
It took a lot of courage for a 25-year-old girl from Wu Xi City in Jiang Shu province, China, who had never flown on a plane, and who had never left home before, to travel 2,000 miles to a foreign country in search of work. It took even more courage to stay once she discovered what life was really like for a factory girl on the island of Saipan in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
Did she make the greatest mistake of her life? Like many girls, she came with dreams of a better future. Yes, the pay was better than in China, but at what price? Would the high pressure of 15-hour quota-driven days of tedious, mind and finger-numbing work of the “sweatshops” get to her? Or would the greedy floor monitors, and scam-artists preying on lonely, naive women rob her not just of her income, but of her innocence as well? At every turn, there were wolves ahead and tigers behind that threatened her dreams of happiness. Could she learn Saipan’s secret factory system and get ahead before she lost it all? Could she save money, save face, and return to China better off? Would she even want to, given the real reason she left China in the first place?
WHY I WROTE:
I wrote because Chun’s story needed to be told.
I wrote because the world needs to know what happens behind the often closed doors of garment factories and other “sweatshops” around the world.
I wrote because without someone to help them, many people take their stories with them to their final earthly destination depriving
us of enlightenment, entertainment and education.
I wrote because Chun depended on me to achieve reality and sense of humanity to the faceless, nameless girls who worked without acknowledgement or respect in the factories on Saipan.
I wrote to help with the catharsis of releasing the pent up emotions about how life treated her and her friends.
I wrote because a young girl from a rural part of Wuxi, China can now forever think of herself as a published author, changing her
self-concept forever.
I wrote because supporting her through her first radio interview on Saipan was my part of my personal mission to “share what I know, so that others may grow.”
I wrote because being able to take her back to China with her book in hand to show her parents and friends was the best feeling in the world!
I wrote because seeing her adjust to being an author who is asked to autograph books, put a smile on my face.
ADDITIONAL INFO ON RELEVANCE:
- First and only first hand account of sweatshop conditions on US Commonwealth of Saipan
- Used as a text for Women’s Studies course at Cal State Fullerton and at least one other University
- Excerpted in French Textbook on “The American Dream”
- “as told to” co-author (Walt Goodridge) is a Queens, New York “native” (grew up right here in Hollis!)
- interviewed on NPR’s “The World”
- received praise from David B. Cohen, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Insular Affairs
