Background
Lee grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown, and went to Marina Middle School, Galileo High School and was a student majoring in psychology at San Francisco State University when he joined the Chung Ching Yee, also known as the Joe Boys.
Lee grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown, and went to Marina Middle School, Galileo High School and was a student majoring in psychology at San Francisco State University when he joined the Chung Ching Yee, also known as the Joe Boys.
Bachelor in English Education, Buffalo State College, 1984. Master of Arts in Reading, State University of New York, Cortland, 1988. Postgraduate, Binghamton University, since 1994.
He is the author of three books. Although not indicted, he was questioned by homicide investigators about the 1977 Golden Dragon Massacre. The massacre was one of the deadliest in San Francisco History, for which five other Joe Boys were jailed after injuring 15 people and killing 5 others.
In 1988, Lee was an employee at ESL when former employee Richard Farley fatally shot seven people and wounded four others at its headquarters. Lee recalled the tragedy in detail and his role in rescuing coworkers in his first book, Chinese Playground: A Memoir. Lee is the author of three books.
His first, Chinese Playground: A Memoir (1999) is a memoir of gang life in 1960s and 1970s San Francisco Chinatown which caused him to be approached and threatened by former gang associates who told him he should not have written the book and made veiled threats against him and his family. Lee is also the author of Born to Lose: Memoirs of a Compulsive Gambler, (2005) which details his lifelong gambling addiction and recovery. He has also written numerous articles for the San Francisco Chronicle and Asian Week and has been featured on the History Channel, A&E Network, Spike TV, and in national print publications.
Lee is the principal of Bill Lee and Associates, a senior management and technical search firm based in California. He has also counseled serious offenders at the Juvenile Justice Center (YGC).
(This stark and unsentimental recollection of childhood an...)
("My history of gambling really began before I was born." ...)
Member United University Professionals, New York State Foundation of Education Association, New York State Teachers Association.
1 child, Kelly Robin. Married Sandra June Young, August 26, 1983. Children: Nathan Benjamin, Jacob James.