Judy Fong Bates est arrivée au Canada jeune enfant, après avoir quitté la Chine. Elle a grandit "au dessus" de différentes laveries. Elle vit aujourd'hui avec sa famille à Toronto.
Because of their work in the restaurant, Sam and his sons smelled faintly of cooking oil, in the same way, I suppose, that my father smelled of soap. Sam and his sons dressed alike. They wore white cotton shirts with the sleeves rolled up to their elbows and baggy black pants. And each wore a flat white half-apron tied around his waist.