Morning with Betty Barr

Good afternoon everyone!

This morning I attended a lecture presented by Betty Barr, PhD. What a lovely lady who shared with us her enthusiasm for Chinese culture and stories about her life in Shanghai.

Betty is married to George Wang and together, they have written three books - Shanghai Boy, Shanghai Girl - Lives in parallel, Between Two Worlds Lessons in Shanghai and another book about the life of Margaret Wang, who was George's first British wife.

I've included two photos here - the first one is a photo of the Old China Hand Reading Room - the location of today's lecture. The second is of Betty addressing the women from the American Women's Club Shanghai who attended. Cookies and tea or coffee were served while Betty shared many stories about her childhood, her life as an expat here in Shanghai teaching English as a Second Language and her marriage to George Wang.

Denice and I attended this lecture and we were so glad we did. We enjoyed the time we spent with Diane Smith Walsh and meeting the others in attendance but Betty was the STAR! The Staff at the Reading Room ran out of Betty's books to sell so Denice and I walked to Taikang Lu to Deke's studio where there were more for sale. We both bought the first two, hoping we could get Betty to sign them but she had left after lunch and we'll have to get them signed soon.

These books hold the history of Shanghai and of three amazing individuals and their stories. I cannot wait to read them, get them signed by the authors and take them home for my Mother to read. I think they will be a highlight of my stay here in Shanghai.