Carol L. Park grew up halfway between San Jose and San Francisco, leaving and returning many times, but remaining a California girl—until she spent six years immersed in Japan, having moved to Tokyo with her husband and two children. Her style of communication and relationships have evolved from that experience and 35 years of marriage to a magnificent Korean-American computer engineer. Decades back, she shocked and annoyed her mother by requiring her to follow a new household custom: to take off shoes before entering. Carol credits her and her dad, both raised in Oklahoma, for her radical hospitality, gardening, and determination. As a child, before it was popular to disdain the old Barbie, she did, throwing away mascara to climb peaks and gaze in wonder at waterfalls and redwoods. From early on, reading and writing stories and poems delighted her, but she didn’t develop the craft until later in life.
TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) has brought Carol into a myriad of new recipes and fresh views. Among her travel joys have been America’s southwest and east coast, Vietnam, Taiwan, Spain, Italy, France, and Durango, Mexico. Her six years in Tokyo and Kobe proved the best and hardest part of her life. One more transforming experience: volunteering in a jail. Carol has learned to adapt to a yet-different culture and seen the outcome of our unjust system.
The best compliment of Carol’s twenties was, You don’t judge. Of her thirties: You’re a good mother. Of her forties: You’re very generous. Fifties: You bring people together. Of her sixties: You’ve re-made yourself into a writer.
Find more of Carol’s words at:
www.carolpark.us
Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (September 18, 2024)
Also available on Kindle