Chandra Emery was born in Bangor, Maine, in the spring of 1969. After her brother was born, her family moved to Virginia, where she grew up, mostly in Fairfax County, in the suburbs outside of Washington, D.C. Growing up, she ate rice almost everyday. In the summer, she put din sor pong on her body to keep cool.
Her father is from rural Maine. He was the first and only member of his family to attend college. His mother worked for several decades as a shoe stitcher for Dexter Shoes. She taught Chandra how to make Parker House Rolls, play the organ and watch soap operas. His father made a living in countless trades, from logging to blacksmithing, self-taught in all of them. He usually smelled like cigarettes and booze mixed with earth.
Chandra's mom, who died in 2019 a few days before her 83rd birthday, was from Bangkok, Thailand. Her father, a medical doctor from India, died when she was five years old. She and her three older sisters attended private convent school in the city along the Chao Praya River, near the historic Oriental Hotel. They mostly lived with their mom in Thailand, and for a time with her uncle in Cochin, India. Chandra's parents married in 1968, just as miscegenation laws were deemed unconstitutional.
She has a lot of degrees, a few dear friends, a love of language, sailing and making the world more beautiful. She believes that curiosity and humor are the antidote to much of our suffering.
Her father is from rural Maine. He was the first and only member of his family to attend college. His mother worked for several decades as a shoe stitcher for Dexter Shoes. She taught Chandra how to make Parker House Rolls, play the organ and watch soap operas. His father made a living in countless trades, from logging to blacksmithing, self-taught in all of them. He usually smelled like cigarettes and booze mixed with earth.
Chandra's mom, who died in 2019 a few days before her 83rd birthday, was from Bangkok, Thailand. Her father, a medical doctor from India, died when she was five years old. She and her three older sisters attended private convent school in the city along the Chao Praya River, near the historic Oriental Hotel. They mostly lived with their mom in Thailand, and for a time with her uncle in Cochin, India. Chandra's parents married in 1968, just as miscegenation laws were deemed unconstitutional.
She has a lot of degrees, a few dear friends, a love of language, sailing and making the world more beautiful. She believes that curiosity and humor are the antidote to much of our suffering.
