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9 July , 2003

NOTE: I received these reminiscences of Larry Ching from readers who responded to my column about the late singer. They've kindly given my permission to post them online, and I'd love to add more if anyone has stories or comments to share. You can read the San Francisco Chronicle's obituary online, read more about Larry Ching's life and order his CD, "Till the End of Time," and order the "Forbidden City U.S.A." DVD.

Timeless
By Erik Mastunaga

I got this CD by Larry Ching, I guess he was some kind of Chinese American crooner in the Thirties and Forties. Read about him on www.twojapaneebruddahs.com, and then ordered two: one for me and one for my grandma.

I listen to Sinatra with my grandmother in her kitchen while the dog slimes his toys on my pants and my grandfather handicaps his golf group. The cat walks on the table and I push her off, the birds are loud in the back room, and my favorite dish of fried somen under some kind of sauce with chicken and nappa, which might have a Japanese name but my grandma calls pancake noodles, simmers on the stove.

"You ever heard of this guy?" I put the CD on the counter. "I guess he used to play at a club in San Francisco in the Thirties and Forties."

My grandmother escaped the farm for two years to be a beautician in San Francisco, pre-evacuation, so I thought she might know who he was.

"Larry Ching? Hmm . . . There was this guy, what was his name. He changed it to some Chinese name . . . Gee, my memory's going. Shim knew him from Berkeley." Her brother went to Cal, pre-evacuation.

"Jack Soo?" She didn't hear me. My pop's brother had bought her a hearing aid a couple months back, but I don't think she had it in.

"What was his name . . . I must be going senile." She giggled and turned to stir the sauce.

"Jack Soo?" She didn't hear me. She turned back.

"Goro, I think. Goro Suzuki from Vacaville, that's what Shim called him," she said with a grin.

"Didn't he change his name to Jack Soo?"

"He changed it to some Chinese name, to play Chinese clubs."

"JACK SOO?!"

"Yeah, that's him! Gosh, my memory's going. He went to Berkeley with Shim. He always called him 'Goro Suzuki from Vacaville.' He was on some T.V. show, too, a cop show. I forget the name . . . What was the name of that show . . . I guess he was from Vacaville. He sang like Bing Crosby."

"Yeah, I guess this guy Larry Ching used to play at some Chinese club called 'Forbidden City,' or at least that's what the article said." I had printed the article for her to read, but she was busy checking on the noodles.

"Hey, I went there once."

"Really?"

"Yeah, well, the sister of one of my friends used to work there, so I went once with a couple other girls. I remember I used to always pass by and wonder what went on in there." She boarded in a Japantown flat doing housework on top of beauticianing, but her dayjob was near the club. "Boy, that was a nice place. Couldn't afford to go to places like that. I remember there was a lot of jade there."

"Jade, huh?"

"Yeah, jade figurines . . . And a lot of classy people. A lot of hakujin went there too. They went to eat and listen to music." And probably more. "You wanna eat?"

"Okay." The dog slimed his tug-o-war rope on my leg. "Hey Kip, I gotta eat." He twisted his head. "Later. I gotta eat now.

I put in the CD and my grandma put a plate of pancake noodles on the table, interrupting Gramps' handicapping with an abridged version of what we were listening to.

"They called him The Chinese Sinatra, this guy Ching. He played at Forbidden City. Goro Suzuki used to play there, too."

Gramps put down his pencil, took off his glasses, sat back, and listened. He turned his chair toward me and grinned. "She was a fatso back then."

She lit a cigarette and sat back. "Yeah, I was kind of heavy," she said.

"Hey Kip. Quit bothering me, I gotta eat."

"Barney Miller, that's the one. He was on Barney Miller. Goro Suzuki from Vacaville," she said. "Jack Soo."

Re: Larry Ching
By David Jue

It was in 1964 that I first met Larry when I got my first newspaper delivery route in San Francisco. Larry was the manager of about 12 or 15 of us who delivered the old San Francisco News Call-Bulletin (the evening version of the Examiner; same owner, more pictures, less text) in his district.

From all appearances, Larry was a truck driver, wearing work clothes that one would think a longshoreman would wear. However, I vividly remember that Larry would break out in song at times while some of us were being driven around the streets of San Francisco by him in the newspaper truck. I remember thinking, "Wow. He sounds like he could do it professionally." Little did I know that he had actually had a professional singing career, although for some reason he never mentioned it. Now I realize even more so of what a treat it was to hear his singing in 1964 in the newspaper truck. It was not until I saw Arthur Dong's documentary that I realized that he actually had a pioneering and successful career in show business that concluded about two years before I worked for him.

Larry was my first boss, and gave me much advice and deserved criticism that gave me a good foundation for having the right attitude toward one's employment. When we had down time, Larry kept me out of mischief that I otherwise might have gotten into. Those were good times. I don't think many people know much about this phase of Larry's life, as I knew nothing about his previous career. Larry was good to us.

Larry was not just a delivery truck driver, and I want you to know that I feel that Larry Ching is truly a treasure in many ways. I am fortunate to have known and worked for him, and am extremely happy to know that his voice is preserved so that we and many more can continue to enjoy the smooth voice that I first heard almost 40 years ago.

I know that Larry's being featured as the "Chinese Frank Sinatra" was all hype. Actually, he's much BETTER than Sinatra. I know. I've heard both in person.