‘Pasadena JAs: Life After Internment’ at La Pintoresca Library

PASADENA — “Pasadena Japanese Americans: Life After Internment” will be presented on Sunday, Oct. 21, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the La Pintoresca Branch Library, 1355 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena.

The La Pintoresca Library Associates invite you to a taste of Japanese, Italian and American foods. Listen to music from EPC Jazz Group, a drum performance by Kodama Taiko, and award-winning author Naomi Hirahara’s story of the resilience of Japanese Americans transitioning back to freedom and rebuilding their lives after camp.

Hirahara is the author of the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mysteries. Other novels include Officer Ellie Rush bicycle cop mysteries and an upcoming Leilani Santiago mystery, “Iced in Paradise,” set in Kaua’i (September 2019, Prospect Park Books). Shei is also the author of a middle-grade novel, “1001 Cranes,” and numerous nonfiction works on Japanese American and Southern California horticultural history. She has recently co-written “Terminal Island: The Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor” and “Life After Manzanar.” For more information, visit her website, www.naomihirahara.com.

For more information on the event, call (626) 744-7268 or email mracelis@cityofpasadena.net.

LPLA’s fundraising goal for 2018 is $5,000, and all monies received will be used to support children’s programs such as La Pintoresca Branch’s Homework Helper program. Purchase of computer tablets will help mentors to more effectively teach math and science to youngsters and build their confidence and academic skills.

Donations can be made by personal check money order, credit card or cash during the fundraiser. Checks should be made out to Friends of the Pasadena Public Library, and on the memo line indicate “La Pintoresca Library Associates.” If you are unable to attend, you can mail your contribution (check or money order) to La Pintoresca Library Associates, La Pintoresca Branch Library, 1355 N. Raymond Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103. Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.