November 11, 2004

Iris Chang Dead

The author of the critically acclaimed book The Rape of Nanking, Iris Chang, was found dead along a road near San Francisco. Police believe she committed suicide since a gun was found in her car, and she suffered depression.

Chang was only 29 when The Rape of Nanking was published. Until then, that horrific event was little more than a bit of trivia barely remembered from high school history. She brought the atrocities to light and forced the Japanese to deal with the historic blood on their hands. A BrothersJudd.com review wrote, "Chang's excellent book implicates all of these issues and should engender much soul searching."

I met Chang last year when she passed through Milwaukee promoting her book The Chinese in America. I wrote,

While knowing as a child about that horrible event, when she went to a conference on it, she got sick from seeing pictures of the atrocities. I asked her how the reasearch for her latest book differed from Rape. She told me that the research and writing about Nanking made her physicially ill, and she had to recuperate after finishing the book.

Godspeed, Iris.

"Author Chang Found Dead Aged 36"

UPDATE: Jay Reding has some nice words about Chang's work.