Paul Bowman, author of The Treasures of Bruce Lee, answers questions from Jim Bessman at Examiner.com. The rest of the Q&A is posted on Examiner.com.
This is such a beautiful book. But there are so many—hundreds, probably. Why another?
Well, you’ve just hit the nail on the head, right there: This is a beautiful book. As soon as you see it, you realize it’s not simply a book, and certainly not a book like any other. This is a collector’s item unlike any of the other books on Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee’s family and the publishers worked together to make sure of that. I’ve seen a few reviews of the book already and they all seem to agree that it’s not a book you simply read, it’s one you experience. And I can’t take any credit for that. I just wrote the words.
But I think the words do important work, too: They set out some key facts about Bruce Lee’s life and significance, rather than repeating myths and legends.
It’s subtitled “The Official Story.” What makes it “official”?
It’s official in that it was commissioned and overseen by the guardians of Bruce Lee’s legacy–his own family. In other words, this is not just a storybook about Bruce Lee. It’s the story of Bruce Lee. True, there are others, but none that work in quite the same way as this book–narrative plus unseen photos and facsimiles of memorabilia, etc., which make it a great experience.
How did it come about?
I believe Shannon Lee wanted to see a book like this. I was honored to be asked. I’d like to think she asked me because she likes my other writing on Bruce Lee, but that’s really for an academic audience, so I suspect she suggested me because she saw me in Pete McCormack’s excellent recent documentary about Bruce Lee, I Am Bruce Lee. Anyway, I know most of the facts and fictions about Bruce Lee, and the publishers were given access to the Lee family archives of photos and memorabilia.
Keep reading this interview at Examiner.com!
Bruce Lee is remembered not only as the martial artist who inspired people to better themselves physically and mentally but also as an actor, a writer, a director, a teacher, and a philosopher. Authorized by Bruce Lee Enterprises, The Treasures of Bruce Lee tells this unique man’s story – his aspirations, his family life, his passion for martial arts – as never before, through painstaking research, never-before-seen memorabilia, and rare, unpublished photographs. It includes 5 posters and 15 removable facsimile items from the Bruce Lee Archives, including handwritten poems, membership cards, and Lee’s illustrations and notes on all aspects of martial arts.
