Min Jin Lee

I've seen my father catch muggers.

in front of my eyes.

I've seen my father fight with people who wanted to rob him.

And he's not a big guy.

And so in a way, the need to survive, the need to fight for what you believe in, it's something that I grew up watching my father do.

I do it myself.

There are things that I think are important and I will argue, even though I really don't like to.

I am profoundly an introverted person, but I can perform a kind of toughness when I need to.

Yeah, I think that having to be constantly aware of one's surroundings in New York City, particularly back in the 70s and early 80s, teaches you a little bit about how to take care of yourself.

You know, my dad had with his store, you know, he had people break in.

I remember being a little girl and being told that someone came in through the roof by pouring acid on

on the top of the roof and then coming through that way to steal the drugs.

We were always very careful about how we were going to be there without him.

But ultimately, we had to leave Staten Island because it was just too dangerous for a mom and pop shop of drugs.

It's kind of heartbreaking because you know that in dangerous and poor neighborhoods, these services are so deeply needed.

But as a small business owner, you also realize how impractical it is because you can't protect yourself sufficiently.

So you have that constant dynamic between how do I serve and also how do I survive?

You and your sisters attended PS 102.

I attended PS 207.

And there you've written about how pretty girls took turns bullying you in class.