Min Jin Lee

So I don't know where we have to go.

But he really, really wanted to go.

So we went.

Your dad taught himself to read English with a dictionary and some books.

He practiced speaking by running errands for American soldiers.

And initially he wanted to be a doctor, but contracted tuberculosis and decided instead to become a businessman.

How hard was it for him to adjust to his working conditions in the United States?

My father is the kind of person that even today at the age of 88, I'm not kidding you, if we had some sort of crisis, some sort of apocalyptic event, he would somehow figure out how to survive.

He has that sort of canniness, and he has a kind of hearty humility which will allow him to survive.

And that was really great because I grew up with that sort of problem-solving personality.

And he doesn't have grandiosity, so it's very helpful because then he'll figure out how to do the next thing.

So I think that in a way, even though he lost everything, he was able to sort of rebuild everything again.

And he always has a plan.

My dad always has a plan.

It's kind of interesting.

Initially, he ran a newspaper stand, which you thought was very glamorous because of all the candy.

And it reminded me when I was growing up, my dad had his own pharmacy.

And I also thought it was quite glamorous because of the barrettes.

I would be able to go in and look at the sort of spinning displays of ponytail holders and all kinds of headbands and just thought it was the most glamorous place on the planet.

But about a year after running the newsstand, your dad and your mom bought a tiny wholesale jewelry store in Manhattan's Koreatown between 30th and 31st Street on Broadway.