Review of Memoir for Local Author

As you know, I'm a big fan of supporting our local (Bay Area) authors.  I have recently read 1st-time books from a couple of locals.  One is a memoir, and the other is a novel.  In this post, I will concentrate on the memoir.

Dinah Lin's book is Daring to Dream Once Again, It's Never Too Late!  Here is part of what the back cover tells us:

"Dinah Lin is living proof it's never too late...for anyone.  Now in her 70s, she has become a published author and begun a new career.  Daring to Dream Once Again shares her amazing journey-spanning seven decades while living in six countries.

"Dinah narrowly escaped Communist China with her mom and siblings in the last boat leaving Shanghai in 1949.  What was it like growing up in a small town in Ohio as the only Asian family?  How did she make the transition from housewife and social hostess to the senior executive levels in both corporate America and in Washington, D.C.?"

Dinah's story is a pretty remarkable one.  To go from a refugee to a powerful corporate executive and government influencer is truly amazing.  In fact, Dinah has a number of Reflections throughout the book that I enjoyed.  Here's one in particular that is a takeaway for me:  "In a way, I've never given myself credit for whatever I've achieved.  I just take it all in stride, expecting nothing less from myself.  While this can be admirable in a way, it also takes away from allowing myself to feel pride and a sense of accomplishment for what I've done.  I've since come to believe it's important to acknowledge and celebrate myself, and my wins, though sometimes I still forget."  I think Dinah is right.  It's important that we stop and take the time to say to ourselves "Nice job."

In fact, several of the Reflections resonated with me.  There was one that said "...I definitely had an inclination to downplay and devalue what came easily and naturally to me, and instead, to value what was hard and took a lot of work."  Our daughter, Lauren, could have gone to UC Santa Barbara for college, which was about 4 hours south of where we live; but, instead, she chose Boston University.  She felt that she needed to challenge herself and not take the easy road.  It turned out well - especially since she met her husband, Joe, there!

I think you will find Dinah's book an interesting one.  Very few of us have had to overcome obstacles as big as hers.