Otis Archie introduced our speaker, Lu Chi Fa. “We’re talking inspiration and this man is an inspiration”.
Double Luck is the story of a boy named Lu Chi Fa who was born in China. When he was three years old, both his parents died, leaving him one thing: his name, which means "new beginning." For an orphan passed from relative to relative, and even sold into slavery, the name "new beginning" was most appropriate.
Lu Chi Fa does not remember the name of the Communist chief who paid five hundred pounds of rice for me. He was middle-aged and had recently married for the first me. His new wife had a twenty-year-old son. Communist Father reasoned that his stepson was too old for him to train, but I was a very small boy, and in his eyes, I was still trainable. Little Chi Fa would make an obedient son. Communist Father said his stepson was Number One Son and I was Number Two Son. We made him twice lucky. That was how I got my new name, Shang Shii, which means "double luck”.
When Chi Fa was a little boy and called out for help, no one answered. He promised himself then and there, that if ever he were successful he would do something to help others. Now that his memoirs have been published, he is keeping that promise. Copies of Double Luck are sold in his restaurant, at book signings, and online. Revenue from sales have been given to the Morro Bay and Atascadero libraries in California for their children's programs. Additional contributions have been made to the Morro Bay Library to renovate their children's room and to Cal Poly (in San Luis Obispo) for student scholarships.
You can purchase copies of Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan at Amazon.com. Or at Lu Chi Fa’s business, The Co ee Pot Restaurant which is located at 1001 Front Street (on the Embarcadero) in Morro Bay, California 93442. Hours: 7am-2pm