1966

NYSA WONG KLINE

My mom moved to San Francisco in the 1960s and lived there most of her life.

She loved to throw parties: parties that got her and her roommates evicted when she was in her twenties, parties with the Winterland roadies, parties with themes like Come as You Aren’t and Spam. She taught me how to throw parties, too, and every year we hosted a Christmas craft class at our apartment.

She had all sorts of jobs, from secret ice-cream taster at Baskin-Robbins to secretary at California Farmer magazine. She was proud to be the fastest typist in the typing pool at Southern Pacific Railroad. She owned her own store called To Be Continued on Sacramento Street in Laurel Heights, demonstrated cooking in woks for Taylor & Ng, and had her own edible bread sculptures business. She sold collaged rocks and jewelry she made from typewriter keys at local craft fairs, and for forty years she was the personal assistant to prominent psychiatrist Jack Dusay, MD. Half Chinese and half German, my mother proclaimed herself Lady Nona Wong Kline, CAP (Chinese American Princess), and had business cards printed to prove it.

There was no one else like her. I always admired the way she didn’t care what people thought of her and how she made people laugh. She had style. She sacrificed a lot to raise me by herself, and I will always be grateful that she raised me in The City.