Mississippi Delta Chinese

I am an author and freelance writer in Mississippi.  I am also a Mississippi Arts Commission Teaching Artist and Mississippi Humanities Speaker.

My name is Andy Cahan. I was born in New York and have lived in North Carolina since 1979. From my earliest recollections I have had a strong interest in all aspects of Chinese culture. This interest has inspired me to make numerous trips to Asia. As a lifelong (amateur) Sinologist I have explored many avenues of Chinese history. One of my primary interests is Chinese label art. I have collected antique Chinese products for decades and have authored two books on the subject of Chinese label art (both for Schiffer Publishing). I search everywhere for items to add to my collection of labels, packages, etc. of tea, incense, lichees, firecrackers, and everything else.  I look forward to making a trip to Mississippi to learn about the history of Chinese people there, and hopefully to find some additions for my collection. I minored in Asian Studies at Oberlin College work as a cabinet builder and woodworker for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Date:  29 December 2011

Born in Greenwod, MS and lived in Moorhead, MS.  My father, Joe W. Quon was a farmer and businessman who also ran a grocery store.  My mother, Sandra Quon, was an artist, musician, and teacher.  I have two older brothers, Eric and Richard and one younger sister, Teresa. 

I graduated in 1983 from Delta State Univeristy and married in 1984 to the former Miss Melanie Chow of Greenville, MS.  We have a daughter, Mallery who is married to Joshua Yen of Texas and a son, Joseph Woodrow Quon (named after my father and father-in-law) who is still attending high school. 

After retirement from the US Army, I entered into the Aerospace and Defense Industry and am currently the Vice Preisdent of Unmanned Systems for Elbit Systems of America. Melanie is an RN and Mallery is a Children's Minister at the Village Church in Flower Mound, TX.  Joe is planning to follow in my footsteps as a soldier.

I am an international student from Taiwan.  I am currently a doctoral candidate at Ole Miss and working on my dissertation about Chinese/Chinese American students at UM.

My husband is also a student at Ole Miss.  We have two daughters.  We enjoy our life in Oxford very much.

Hometown: Clarksdale, MS