click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
He is a man and not an object, but you are looking at an important fragment of living history -- Frank Quan, the sole remaining resident of China Camp. Now in his '80's, Frank is still active and still sets a shrimp net at the end of his pier (see last photo).
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
Frank is a life-long bachelor, just like me. I think that may be why I find him such a curious and interesting person.
And a handsome-devil, isn't he? Frank's father came from Canton, China, but Frank's mother, who was White, was said to be "quite a dame". Reportedly she enjoyed cigars and had a bit of a salty tongue. She ran the little restaurant that I showed yesterday. But besides knowing that John Wayne and she got along famously when he was shooting a movie out here back in the 1950's, that's about all I know about the Quan family.
The Marin Historical Society has a great photo of the entire Quan family from the 1940's (with Frank in his Navy uniform) -- I need to see what other information they might have. Stay tuned.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
And here is where Frank lives. He's had a bumper crop of firewood this year. Eucalyptus trees and branches keep falling in the area, and that's one of the trunks Frank has been working on recently. Now in his '80's he can still muscle-around a chain-saw.
click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney
Unlike his old "SeaBreeze" boat (see yesterday's post) the boat Frank currently uses (photo above) doesn't seem to have a name -- only a number. I'll have to ask him about that. I don't know Frank too well yet -- we're just on a "hello, how are you doing" basis right now. But someone needs to thoroughly document the life of this man (((hello, Diane?))). I can occasionally get a few snaps with my camera, but like I mentioned, this man is a "piece of living history".
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1 comment:
Frank Quan is, indeed, a handsome devil. From photos of him that I have stumbled upon over the years, he always was a fine-looking fellow.
He's a very intelligent, well-spoken man who tells it like it is. He would have no reason to remember me, but on a visit maybe 10-12 years ago he put up with me and some friends who asked interminable questions about the shrimp processing... well, PROCESS, I guess is the best word. He looked at one of my friends who kept asking essentially the same question with a steady eye, causing my friend to realize that the question had already been asked and answered. More than once.
I love that about him. He puts up with no nonsense, because he's just too busy. He doesn't just hang out at China Camp. He lives there, and while some people like to call his home a tiny shack, making it sound as though he's living low on the hog, that's his aunt's old house, and his home.
If you get the chance, see the junk that was built by the NPS and State Parks, as a kind of surprise for Frank. It is berthed, as I recall, in San Francisco. It was built from photographs, because no one could get their hands on plans, but it is beautiful, and happily, the Park Service and State Parks named it the Grace Quan, after Frank's mother. I hear he was quite carried away when they sailed it to China Camp to surprise Frank.
You can find some great pictures of the Grace Quan online--google it.
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