8 hours and 30 minutes and counting... until the Olympics starts tonight on TV! Until then, keep reading about my encounter with an Olympic Gold Medalist...

I wanted to blog today about my first published children's picture book biography on Olympic Gold Medalist diver Dr. Sammy Lee in SIXTEEN YEARS IN SIXTEEN SECONDS: THE SAMMY LEE STORY (Lee & Low Books '05).

(Picture above, L-R: The cover of my book and Dr. Sammy Lee holding the 1984 and 2004 Olympic torches)

In the fall of 2003, I was doing research for my MFA thesis, a historical novel that involved Korean American rice farmers in the Sacramento Valley. (This is an adult novel that I've shelved but one day hope to work on again!) While googling information, I accidentally stumbled upon an article from ESPN that said Dr. Sammy Lee was the "Jackie Robinson" of Asian American athletes. Curious, I read more and learned that Dr. Sammy Lee was the first Korean American to win two gold medals at the Olympics in 1948 and '52. He won despite having grown up facing much racism, especially when he wasn't allowed to use his town's public swimming pool because he was not white.

I had no idea that Asian Americans were also forbidden from entering public swimming pools back in the 1930s. I always knew about the horrible Jim Crow laws and how African Americans were forbidden from eating at certain restaurants and using pools. I had no idea these laws also applied to Asian Americans.

I couldn't get the image of a 12-year-old Sammy Lee unable to use the town pool during the hot summer days. It made me sad. So I started researching more about his life and found out that even though I am not an athlete, Dr. Sammy Lee and I shared one thing in common - our parents wanted us to study hard! Although his father was proud of Sammy's diving skills, he really wanted his son to become a doctor. So Sammy became a doctor first before entering the Olympics. Sammy's devotion to his father's wishes as well as his passion for diving struck a chord with me - I grew up wanting to become a musician and my parents really wanted me to study and become something more traditional, like a lawyer. I thought it was so inspiring that Sammy was able to achieve his dream and yet honor his parents' wishes at the same time... AND WIN TWO GOLD MEDALS at the Olympics, honoring his country! Talk about inspiration and overcoming obstacles!

So I decided to write a children's picture book about Dr. Sammy Lee's life. I thought it would be an inspirational story. I entered it in the annual Lee & Low Books' "New Voices" competition for unpublished authors of color.

I received a phone call two days before Christmas, 2003 from Lee & Low, congratulating me on winning the contest! I was so excited!

The book was published in the spring of 2005 and immediately began garnering wonderful reviews from critics and lots of award nominations. Some of the book's honors include:

Children's Book Award Notable
International Reading Association

Texas Bluebonnet Masterlist
Texas Library Association (TLA)

Asian/Pacific American Award Honor for Literature
Young Readers Illustration Category
Asian/ Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)

Comstock Book Award Honor
Minnesota State University Moorhead

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
National Council for the Social Studies/ Children's Book Council

The book also received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus:

Booklist wrote: "... the minimal, well-shaped language focuses on facts, particularly on the boy's seemingly indestructable determination, his struggles with his father, and the prejudice he faced. Washed in nostalgic, sepia tones, Dom Lee's acrylic-and-wax, textured illustrations are reminiscent of his fine work in Ken Mochizuki's watershed Baseball Saved Us (1993), and like Yoo's understated words, the uncluttered images leave a deep impact; an aerial view of Sammy facing the blue expanse of the Olympic pool is particularly affecting. A page of facts closes this handsome, inspiring biography, which will make both an excellent read-aloud for younger children or a read-alone for confident older ones."

Kirkus wrote: "Handsomely illustrated and compassionately written without sentimentality, this picture book biography exemplifies what this genre should be: humanizing and meaningful... This hero's inspirational story demonstrates determination and dedication by a man who never gave up and is still an active athlete today..."

For more reviews, go to this link: http://paulayoo.com/content/sixteen-years-sixteen-seconds-sammy-lee-story

You can also visit the Lee & Low Books website for more information on this book:

http://www.leeandlow.com/books/109/hc/sixteen_years_in_sixteen_seconds_the_sammy_lee_story

I was very proud of the book and it was a privilege and honor to meet Dr. Sammy Lee. I had the chance to interview him in the summer of 2004. Check out these amazing images below: (L-R) Dr. Sammy Lee at age 84, standing at the gate of the public swimming pool that was off limits to Sammy and other people of color in 1932... (today, the pool of course is open to everyone AND they love Dr. Lee!) Next to that photo is an image of the opening pages of my book featuring a 12-year-old Sammy looking longingly into the forbidden pool....

And here are pictures of Dr. Lee celebrating his 84th birthday and a photo myself and the book's illustrator DOM LEE and Dr. Sammy Lee:

For more info on the brilliant illustrator DOM LEE, go to his website here at: http://www.domandk.com/ 

I definitely plan to add these photos plus others in a picture gallery on my website, along with those never-yet-done photo galleries of the BEA, ALA, SCBWI conference and other events. I am on a new writing deadline, so please be patient, full picture galleries will be coming soon. (The nice thing about the picture galleries on this website is that you can click on the individual tiny pictures to get a much larger version.)

Anyway, I leave you with an inspirational photo of Dr. Sammy Lee's three medals - the Gold and Bronze medals he won in 1948 and the Gold medal he won in 1952.

I am so excited for THE OLYMPICS tonight! I'm the Olympics fanatic who will watch all 3600 hours of coverage. I was the one who stayed up until 3:45 a.m. to watch badminton in 2004... I mean, check out this youtube link of exciting last minute badminton action between two teams from Korea for the Gold Medal!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jCFjb82Dt0

I'm also excited for DIVING, of course, swimming, field & track, women and men's gymnastics (I'm still a huge fan of the 1984 USA men's gymnastics team!!!), etc.

Well, if you don't see any more blogs from me for the next week or so, you'll know where I'll be! In the Olympics batcave!