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.

Born:  Mississippi

Grew up:  Memphis, TN

Home:  Illinois

Instructor in project management at Northwestern University after a career as a consultant in information technology.

My father operated a grocery store in Arkansas, Mississippi, and then in Tennessee.

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.

Granddaughter of Dr. Ira Eavenson

ESL volunteer teacher currently, interested in my geneology with connection to the Delta

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.

I am doctoral candidate in sociology at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. My research interests include immigrant communities in the Gulf South, Vietnamese American research and qualitative methods.

My husband and I live with our incredibly feisty daughter in beautiful Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi.