The medicine made her feel sluggish. Bretton Douglas. "Iris was much in demand and gave many talks," Brett recalled, adding with a laugh, "she was schmoozing the whole time." In her international bestseller, "The Rape of Nanking," Chang examined one of the most tragic chapters of World War II: the mass execution of soldiers and theslaughter, rape and torture oftens of tens of thousands of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers in the former capital of China. The next morning, Friday, Nov. 19, dawned cold, clear and sunny. She would talk about her achievements openly, and people saw her as putting them down or bragging, when it was really that she believed there was enough success to go around., A Canadian documentary about Chang is in the works and two statues honoring her have been erected since her deathone at Stanford, the other at a memorial to the Nanking massacre in whats now called Nanjing, where another woman from Illinois is honored. iris during college years with mr and mrs chang and brother michael courtesy chang family, Event on 11/16/04 in San Jose. This is for the biographers., Suicide, Kamen observes, is in a lot of ways the ultimate act of control. "She got what she wanted and got out," he said. "People who are in great treatment, who have all the love and support in the world, can still commit suicide," Jamison, author of "Understanding Suicide," has said. I will follow the doctor's orders for medications. The Highway Patrol then called the Santa Clara Sheriff's homicide unit and detective Sgt. You have a young kid. About the suicide of her own daughter, Chang believed it was probably the side effects of psychiatric medication that led Iris to end her life. [19], When you believe you have a future, you think in terms of generations and years. Stress does not cause mental illness, but it can worsen the symptoms, doctors say. In 2007, the documentary Nanking was dedicated to Chang, as well as the Chinese victims of Nanking. It may be true that Iris Chang committed suicide. From the terrace, the view was peaceful -- broad green fields and golden poplars. "We had our lives so structured. Books by Iris Chang The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II Iris Chang $ 3.99 - $ 16.98 The Chinese in America: A Narrative History Iris Chang $ 5.49 - $ 8.09 Thread of the Silkworm Iris Chang $ 6.89 - $ 24.05 You Might Also Enjoy Complete Novels Jane Austen from: $6.19 The Complete Father Brown Stories G.K. Chesterton "Iris is sensitive, but she got charged up," he recalled. He immediately called the police. ", Between trips to the Midwest, Iris conducted yet another book tour. "Most authors are worn out after five or six cities." The fundamental question about suicide, as Howard I. Kushner wrote in "Self-Destruction in the Promised Land," is this: "Why, when faced with a similar set of circumstances -- whether cultural, psychological or biological -- does one person commit suicide while another does not? When I read The Rape of Nanking, I was struck by the parallels in the lives of these two women, Minnie and Iris, Kamen writes. Iris was first and foremost an advocate. She asked me if I was religious -- I said I wasn't, not at all. Christopher Douglas Retweeted. The Rape of Nanking remained on the New York Times Bestseller list for 10 weeks. At Johns Hopkins, Iris studied playwriting, fiction, poetry and science writing. "Sometimes, people can be both mentally ill and highly disciplined, highly structured, highly productive members of society, whether you're talking about science or business or the arts. "Iris used to say she never understood why people would commit suicide, so she was definitely not a suicidal type," said Chang. She wound up committing suicide after finishing her book about the Rape of Nanking. Iris Shun-Ru Chang 19683282004119 Just do it!" Iris arrived at the gunsmith's at about 2 p.m., carrying a Reed's Sport Shop Bag. He framed it and hung it on a wall in his home. "She contacted people who'd been lost for years, dug up records that nobody ever knew existed. 66 years old (May 27, 1956) Later, Iris told interviewers that, as a child, "it was hard for me to even visualize how bad it was, because the stories seemed almost mythical -- people being chopped into pieces, the Yangtze River running red with blood. He returned to China and went on to develop its missile system. "Not only because she started thinking about writing The Rape of Nanking in Cupertino, but also because she gave speeches in Cupertino many times, this book signing event in Cupertino is significant to me.". Thu 11/8, 7:30 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark, 773-769-9299. The cycle of mood shifts that distinguish the disease -- from manic highs to depressive lows -- differs with every sufferer. One month later, on Saturday, Dec. 11, the same elegant photograph of Iris was displayed at a memorial honoring her on the 67th anniversary of the invasion of Nanking. So was her car. "Iris scraped away the scar tissue of something that had been half forgotten and half healed over, and to this date, it's still a very raw wound, " said Orville Schell, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. So, in return for performing a short, Chaplinesque shuffle, he would be rewarded with a handful of scallions. I promise not to visit Web sites that talk about suicide. Iris Chang - Class of 1985 Iris Shun-Ru Chang () was an award-winning Chinese-American journalist, political activist, and acclaimed author. It's a disease. It caused an international scandal because the Japanese to this day have not conceded the extent of the wartime atrocities perpetrated against the Chinese and others. Douglas iris had many uses in Native American cultures. She was too strong-willed not to.". "For three days they gave her medication, the first time in her life." Normally, Iris never did interviews alone. "But he spoke to her mother on the phone and told Iris, 'Your mom is on the phone, so it's OK.' ". "She talked almost obsessively. ", Rising from his chair, her father pulled a small red leather volume from the bookshelf. ", Smith had been Iris' liaison in Wisconsin; another Proviso High teacher was to be her guide in Kentucky. Sunday morning, they drove to Santa Cruz for lunch on the pier, then went to her favorite spa, Chaminade -- a 300-acre mission-style resort, surrounded by redwoods and eucalyptus, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. "Iris was so excited when she got the contract for the book," Brett said, recalling how obsessively she ferreted out material. The first was short, titled "Statement of Iris Chang." She wrote, "The America of today would not be the same America without the achievements of its ethnic Chinese," and that "scratch the surface of every American celebrity of Chinese heritage and you will find that, no matter how stellar their achievements, no matter how great their contribution to US society, virtually all of them have had their identities questioned at one point or another."[12]. After a breakdown five months ago, Chang had been. ", He added, sadly, "I think if we had, I would have noticed earlier that things were going wrong.". But all of them wanted the opportunity to talk about the massacre before their deaths. Meanwhile, Iris was one of a dozen journalism undergraduates chosen for an accelerated Associated Press training program. he cried. I will stop by to visit my parents then go for a long walk. First she thought it would be a couple of weeks" before she improved, "but we tried to convince her that it would be several months, because that is what the doctors said. She worked briefly as a reporter for the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune before completing a graduate degree in writing from the Johns Hopkins University . "We are a very close family. In 1992, at 24, she received a $15,000 award from the MacArthur Foundation, which helped fund the project. Iris Chang rang the doorbell on Ed Martel's front porch in Kenosha, Wis., on Dec. 4, 2003. Married 41 years, the Changs are a handsome, gracious couple. . Our kitchen remodeling San Jose team is ready to help right now! Iris Chang is best known for two things: writing the explosive bestseller "The Rape of Nanking," and then killing herself. In the month after her death, the image would be the central icon at each of three Bay Area memorials. Iris Chang was the daughter of two university professors, Ying-Ying Chang and Dr. Shau-Jin Chang, who moved from mainland China to Taiwan and eventually emigrated to the United States. "My dad was so excited that she was doing this, and so honored.". Waking at 5 a.m., Brett saw Iris was gone. This could be a one-time event or it could signal the onset of bipolar disorder, the doctors told them. She had suffered from years of depression and constant sleep deprivation since her bestseller - full title "The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War Two" - was published in 1997. Meanwhile, they decided they had put their plans for a family on hold long enough. . "It's all for the sake of and in memory of my beloved daughter," Chang said. She earned a degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a Masters in Science Writing at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. "It's amazing when you watch Iris do research," Brett said. I will follow the doctor's orders for medications. Register for a user account. Chang is the subject of the 2007 biography Finding Iris Chang,[1] and the 2007 documentary film Iris Chang: The Rape of Nanking starring Olivia Cheng as Iris Chang. After dinner Monday night, Iris returned a call to her agent. They are the ones who brought her up." Iris' reluctance to take medication may indicate the difficulty she had accepting her illness as an illness. As the coffin was lowered into the ground, the black-clad tribe of mourners formed a line. Copy photo of Iris Chang with her husband Brett Douglas and their son at his birthday party. It was sort of scary as a journalist to be thinking, if this could happen to her and she supposedly had no history [of mental illness], and she was so much more put together than I am, just for me the question was how to survive our toxic topics. "Clearly, Iris was a strong, smart and directed young woman," Rabiner said. The air was still, heavy with grief. She described finding threatening notes on her car. Her mother said, "She was always publishing something. "It was family lore. View Christopher Douglas results in Ohio (OH) including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Irrefutably, Iris Chang won many battles in her fight for justice. "I had considered running away, but I will never be able to escape from myself and my thoughts. They made an appointment to meet Wednesday at the firing range. Chang had been Statement of Iris Chang won many battles in her life. and got out, '' said. 'S front porch in Kenosha, Wis., on Dec. 4, 2003 three they... She had accepting her illness as an illness 24, she received $. Chang had been massacre before their deaths in his home symptoms, doctors.. View was peaceful -- broad green fields and golden poplars the Rape Nanking. That she was doing this, and so honored. `` knew existed firing.... 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