Actually Rush, I am going to let the cat out of the bag for this one. Why I wanted to know this is because I am trying to build a Chan family tree, which is laying the ground work for a bigger project.
A Charlie Chan Biography similar to those that have been done for Tarzan, Doc Savage etc.
Its a huge project, but my wife and I are committed to having it done in time for the centennial (so we have 12 years).
We already have a few great ideas, and I would love to hear suggestions for important events in his life etc.
And contrary to popular supposition Charlie Chan's father was not Fu Manchu, but I have a good idea who it was, and it explains a lot. I am also fascinated by the events of Charlie Chan in the City of Darkness where he has gathered together his old intelligence team from WWI. Who were those guys and what did they do?
The only problem I have is I don't yet have copies of Softly walks the Strangler and Silent Corpse. So if anyone has access to these I would love to borrow a copy.
I congratulate you on your project and ambition. I am anly trying to put together a book for my family about (one set of) my 4th great grandparents, and it will only be for family, and it is a "project".
About Charlie's family, didn't he say at the start of "Monte Carlo" that "honorable grandparent" ran a fantan (?sp) house? That is all I can think of concerning his ancestors.
There are a few mentions here and there in the books, in Black Camel he muses on the fact that his mother is buried on the hill, and that he brought her over from China to spend the last few years of her life in his house.
To be honest there will have to be much supposition, but the times are right for so much. Britain establishes trade concessions in Tientsin around 1850, the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion are in full swing, The Chan family is really mportant during this period, with a Chan being one of the founding members of the Chinese communist party.
A very worthy project, indeed! If you would like my admittedly feeble help in any way, I would certainly be honored.
You might start by taking a look at two things. First, here at this present web site, you may wish to pay a quick visit to our "Family Room." There we have compiled a probable rundown of the structure of the Chan family. Of course, if your research leads to any corrections, they will be most welcomed! Next, Dr. Howard Berlin wrote a very thorough article regarding the Chan family a number of years ago. His article can be found in our "Study."
Now, you mention a couple of Chan stories that you have not been able to read. Although, in my humble opinion, apocryphal at best, you will find links to all of the complete stories from that short-lived series, which originally appeared in "Charlie Chan's Mystery Magazine" in the early 1970s, among our "Charlie Chan Links."
Rush I can't seem to find those links to the Davis stories, and all the ones I have found on the web seem to be broken, can you email them to me? I would be most appreciative.
I apologize! You are correct. Some years ago we used to have those links here at our web site. However, as you note, they are no longer working, and, thus, they were removed. I was thinking of the links we now have to the Biggers stories. You may try to search out those stories on one of the online book seller sites such as www.abebooks.com. The stories, or at least a couple from that series you mention, were re-released a few years ago in book form. Also, you may even be able to come across a copy or copies of the original publications.
Somewhere, I have a notebook containing the stories that were printed from the web site that once housed the complete collection of the stories you mentioned. If worse comes to worse, and you cannot get your hands on the material you wish, let me know. If I can find the copied material, I'll be happy to share it with you.
