Timothy Hallinan was a singer/songwriter in a rock band while in college, with many of his songs recorded by well-known artists including the platinum-selling group Bread. He began writing books while enjoying a successful career in the television industry and is the author of several widely praised books in three different series. Along with his wife, Munyin Choy, he divides his time equally between Los Angeles and Southeast Asia. Recently, he contributed to two short-story collections that raised money for Japanese disaster relief and Bangkok street children.
His most recent series of novels are set in Bangkok and feature Poke Rafferty, an American expatriate writer living in Thailand with his lover Rose, the former "queen" of the Patpong bars, and an adopted daughter, Miaow. The latest installment, The Queen of Patpong—involving a nightmare figure from Rose's past who threatens the Rafferty clan's peace, love, home and even their lives—was nominated for both the Edgar and the Macavity awards.
Tim's holiday offering for Bookmas is a touching tale of love and devotion tinged with humor, and he also selects a deserving charity:
My father was a poor Irish kid from Chicago and my mother was a rich society girl from Los Angeles. When my father proposed, my mother's parents were horrified, so the two of them eloped to Santa Barbara, where my father presented her with a ring that had a diamond so small it was practically invisible. It would have been an exaggeration to call it a chip.
But he did very well financially over the years, and when I was thirteen, he gave my mother a Christmas present in a very small box which, when opened, contained a perfect two-carat diamond. My mother almost fainted, but when I looked at my father, what I saw in his face was a fifteen-year-old boy who's just fallen in love for the first time.
Decades passed. My father died, and my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. She began to give things away. I was living at the time with my longtime girlfriend, Munyin Choy, and for some reason she had not gone down to San Diego with me to see my Mom. On the last evening of my stay, which was only a few days before Christmas, Mom took off the ring and said, "I want you to have this."
I said, "What in the world will I do with it?"
She said, "If you have the sense God gave a goose, you'll get down on one knee and offer it to Munyin."
I did, and she accepted it (and me), and we were married a few months before my mother passed away. It was incomparably the greatest Christmas present of my life.
I'd like to suggest that anyone wanting to do good for some of the world's most deserving kids go to the Mercy Center's website and click the "Donate" button. Father Joe Maier feeds, houses, and educates Bangkok's street children, and some of their schools were destroyed in the recent floods. Father Joe puts to good use every single penny he receives.
All the best, and happy holidays.
Thanks so much, Bonnie -- it did me good to tell that story. And anyone who sends any money to Father Joe will be helping some needy kids. (The short story collection Bangkok Noir, in which I appear, also benefits Father Joe's Mercy Center -- 50% of all money earned by the book and the writers is donated.)
Posted by: Timothy Hallinan | December 30, 2011 at 12:39 PM