John gifted me a (second) copy of A Chinese American Odyssey: How a Retired Psychologist Makes a Hit as a Historian when we hat dinner in Monterey Park May 22, 2021 with Jeff Lee
and his cousins Donna Lee and my cousin Steven Lu and son Eric.  Just a month later, I had emailed him and Roland Hui who is working on a book about Lew Hing (Bruce Quan's ancestor who was one of the owners of China Mail steamship, among many other enterprises) so that John could give his advice and encouragement about self-publishing.  I used to drive John around when he came up to San Francisco, either from his brother's house in San Carlos or the BART station next to the SF Public Library where he introduced me to Chang Chiuchen and Herstory.  We visited with William Gee Wong in Oakland Chinatown, with Brian Tom in Piedmont, and Chang Chiuchen in El Cerrito.  John truly created a network which connected hundreds, if not thousands, of us Chinese Americans of the baby boomer post-WWII cohort.  We are truly the transition generation as Henry Tom (Chinese Genealogy Workshop in Las Vegas) puts it.  We must come to terms with our immigrant, often non-English-speaking immigrant parents, our own journey to become Chinese American, and our adult kids who are now raising our grandkids who are not exposed to their great-grandparents.  Our family roots cannot really be understood without the history as a whole
of China as a motherland, the early numbers of mostly male sojourners, the race and economic factos which led to the Exclusion Act, the Chinese Communist victory in the civil war, and McCarthyism in America.  John gave us a transition network to build off ot so that we can overcome the perpetual foreigner status and find our real identities.  

I am thankful to have known John as a writer, researcher, presenter and such a kind man!  I met John and corresponded with him when he was writing Chinese Laundries: Tickets to Survival on Gold Mountain (2007).  He asked me to consider writing my childhood story of memories inside our parents' laundry in Hollywood, California that was included in the book.  In addition to his visit to Atlanta when we drove around together (see photos), we corresponded over the years in emails about his research projects about Chinese immigrants (restaurants, groceries and laundries).  In the past year, we briefly communicated about the impact of coronavirus upon small businesses owners of laundry/dry cleaners (GA).  I admire and cherish his accomplishments, contributions, and friendship.  He (all sweet) and his sweet-and-sour stories will be missed!

I've known John since 1968 when he rejoined the Psychology Department. At that time the Department was quite polarized between a "progressive" (advocating for student power and radical change in the curriculum) and a conservative/reactionary wing.  John was a key figure in defusing tension and helping the department move toward balance and harmony.  He wrote a short satirical play which captured our tensions and difficulties.  We all had a good laugh at ourselves and thanks to John we were able to move on.

     I remember going to the Cal State Long Beach pool and seeing an old man, slowly swimming back and forth in the deep pool. I watched him and wondered, how it was possible to swim that slowly and not sink. I jumped into the lap pool and swam about 1,500 yards. We got out of the pool about the same time. I introduced myself and it didn't take long before we became good friends. 
     He and Phyllis invited Denise and me to a Korean event at the Lakewood library. That was the first time I met Phyllis. I could see why they got along so well. I loved her impish smile. He was so worried when she got sick. He was heartbroken when she died. 
     I told him that he needed to continue swimming to deal with the grief, I gave him my first book Viet Nam Body Count, and he asked me for advice on the cover of Chinese American Odyssey. We had many talks about my writing fiction and his writing Chinese American history. He would often say that he couldn't understand how it was possible to write a book out of thin air, as I do. I told him that the air may be thin, but I could still breathe. 
     We often talked about our personal loss of cultural identity. We both grew up away for our cultures. Even though we still looked Chinese or Hispanic, neither of us were fully part of our birth culture. We talked about how despite our parents' attempt to help us "fit in", without our Chinese and Hispanic cultures we were untethered to any culture. We had to work hard at feeling comfortable in our "native" cultures. 
     John was an optimist when it came to his health. He was convinced that his cancer was curable. I told him the story of a man who came to me for a healing from terminal cancer. I had told the man that he needed to change his internal dialogue from 'I am dying of cancer' to 'my body is in healing mode.' John said that it made a lot of sense to him. When I left to come up here, to Washington, I told him that I would do a healing session for him when I returned. I feel so sad that he got so sick and died before I returned. 
I love my dear friend, John. I still can't wrap my head around the idea that he won't be home when I return to Long Beach. I miss him. My heart hurts. 

“Chinatown West meets Deep South……our friendship forged in 1953 and sustained for 68 years where John (aka “Long John”) and I first met at Donaldina Cameron House, a Presbyterian Mission center in San Francisco Chinatown.

Revisiting a few comments I wrote critiquing one of his books on the Amazon website……to wit:  Soul and passion oozes from Dr. John Jung’s writings reflecting his yesteryears in the Deep South as a Chinese American. His words reflected upon his vicarious journey of the subtle, but yet overt vicissitudes affecting the ethos, culture, and mores of the Deep South. Our friendship allowed me to have cursory glimpses of southern life from the perspective of an American Chinese family, between Black and White , a topic not too often discussed in American history. This sociological and also geographical anomaly manifested itself during our formative years where for me, “South” more times than not meant south of San Francisco’s downtown Market Street. Experience a cultural revelation through his writings.

I will miss his Grace, his Humbleness, his unpretentious Brilliance, and his funnier to the bones Humor. GOD bless you and your family, John;  your Legacy and Spirit lives on, RIP, Long Joh

I remember reading John “green book” (“Verbal Learning” published in 1968) as a psychology student at UC Berkeley. He made a complex subject simple. His Minority Access to Research Careers program at CSULB served as a model for other Universities. After retirement his pivot to stories about Chinese in America added an important “voice” to our history.

Photo of John and I after sharing a delicious meal of braised beef brisket and tendon with noodles in 2013 (we had a detailed discussion of how the preparation was similar and different from our favorites). After seeing the photo John quipped: Guess you could call this “under the wok”.

感谢您对我的毕业设计的帮助，您的渊博的学识、对他人无私的帮助，乐观坚韧的品格，会如同种子一样播撒。Jonh Jung先生，谢谢您！请您一路走好，