Mark Salzman

Last updated

Mark Salzman
BornMark Joseph Salzman
(1959-12-03) December 3, 1959 (age 64)
Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation
  • Writer
  • actor
  • cellist
[1]
Alma mater Yale University
Notable works Iron & Silk
Spouse Jessica Yu
Children2

Mark Joseph Salzman (born December 3, 1959, in Greenwich, Connecticut) is an American writer. Salzman is best known for his 1986 memoir Iron & Silk , which describes his experiences living in China as an English teacher in the early 1980s. [2]

Contents

Salzman grew up in Ridgefield, Connecticut, the oldest child of a piano teacher mother and a social worker father. He studied Chinese Language and Literature at Yale University. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude in 1982 and spent the next two years in Changsha, Hunan, teaching English at Hunan Medical College  [ zh ] and studying martial arts with Pan Qingfu, a Chinese martial arts teacher and kung fu movie actor. His experiences in China are recounted in his first book, Iron & Silk: A young American encounters swordsmen, bureaucrats and other citizens of contemporary China, published in 1986. Salzman received several literary awards for Iron & Silk. The book was made into a 1990 film of the same title. Salzman wrote the screenplay and starred as himself in the film. Though the real venue of the story was in Changsha, the film was shot in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.

Salzman plays the cello. [3] In high school, he played the cello for the Norwalk Youth Symphony. In 1996, he performed as guest cellist with YoYo Ma, pianist Emmanuel Ax, and others at Alice Tully Hall for the 20th anniversary performance of Live From Lincoln Center.

After receiving his 2000 Guggenheim Fellowship, [4] Mark Salzman spent time as a stay-at-home parent. [5] Salzman, along with three other men, was featured in the 2007 documentary Protagonist , directed by his wife, Jessica Yu. In 2011 he presented a multimedia monologue, An Atheist in Freefall, at the New York Public Library as part of the exhibition Three Faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. [5]

Salzman continued writing fiction and nonfiction after Iron and Silk. These include a memoir on growing up in suburbia, and one on his work as a creative writing instructor for juvenile delinquents. The most recent is his 2012 memoir, The Man in the Empty Boat, about his search for equanimity after personal catastrophes, which included his sister's untimely death and his own nervous breakdown. [6] [7] Common to his later works is a theme of struggling to reach an ideal but falling short, and the quiet changes within a person who faces the possibility of never achieving their goal. [8] Salzman continues to perform the cello; in January 2020 he and his daughter gave a benefit performance for the Hakone Foundation, in Saratoga California. [9]

Salzman and his wife Jessica Yu, a fellow Yale graduate and an Academy Award-winning filmmaker, have two daughters. The family makes their home in Southern California. [10]

Works by Salzman

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yo-Yo Ma</span> American cellist (born 1955)

Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist. Born to Chinese parents in Paris, remaining there until age 7, then raised and educated in New York City. He was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from the Juilliard School and Harvard University, attended Columbia University, and has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. He has recorded more than 92 albums and received 19 Grammy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunan</span> Province of South-Central China

Hunan is an inland province of China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. Its capital and largest city is Changsha, which abuts the Xiang River. Hengyang, Zhuzhou, and Yueyang are among its most populous urban cities. With a population of just over 66 million as of 2020 residing in an area of approximately 210,000 km2 (81,000 sq mi), it is China's 7th most populous province, the fourth most populous among landlocked provinces, the second most populous in South Central China after Guangdong and the most populous province in Central China. It is the largest province in South-Central China, the fourth largest among landlocked provinces, and the 10th most extensive province by area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Changsha</span> Capital of Hunan, China

Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. It is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, and the third-most populous city in Central China, located in the lower reaches of the Xiang River in northeastern Hunan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiang River</span> River in China

The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the second-largest tributary in terms of surface runoff, the fifth-largest tributary by drainage area of the Yangtze tributaries. The river flows generally northeast through the provinces of Guangxi and Hunan, its tributaries reaching into Jiangxi and Guangdong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Dun</span> Chinese-American composer and conductor (born 1957)

Tan Dun is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and music. Having collaborated with leading orchestras around the world, Tan is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Grawemeyer Award for his opera Marco Polo (1996) and both an Academy Award and Grammy Award for his film score in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). His oeuvre as a whole includes operas, orchestral, vocal, chamber, solo and film scores, as well as genres that Tan terms "organic music" and "music ritual."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yang Kaihui</span> Second wife of Mao Zedong (1901–1930)

Yang Kaihui was the second wife of Mao Zedong, whom he married in 1920. She had three children with Mao Zedong: Mao Anying, Mao Anqing and Mao Anlong. Her father was Yang Changji, the head of the Hunan First Normal School and one of Mao's favorite teachers.

Yali High School, also known as Yali (雅礼) is a junior/senior high school located in Changsha, Hunan Province in the People's Republic of China, or a group of secondary schools containing Yali School itself and several branches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu Kung-tsao</span>

Wu Kung-tsao or Wu Gongzao (1902–1983) was a famous Chinese teacher of tai chi. He taught in Beijing, Shanghai, Changsha and Hong Kong. He was the second son of Wu Jianquan, the best known teacher of Wu-style tai chi, and the grandson of Wu Quanyou, the first teacher of Wu-style tai chi. Wu Kung-tsao was the younger brother of Wu Gongyi and the older brother of Wu Yinghua. The Wu family were originally of Manchu ancestry.

Iron & Silk is a 1990 Canadian action comedy-drama based on the eponymous book by American writer Mark Salzman. It details his journey to China after college to study Chinese wu shu, better known in the west as kung fu, and to teach English. Though not trained as an actor, Salzman starred as himself, as did Pan Qingfu, who claimed no one else could portray him on film. Salzman's experiences occurred in Changsha, Hunan, though the film was shot in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The film was directed by Shirley Sun, and was the editorial debut for Geraldine Peroni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mawangdui</span> Archaeological site in China

Mawangdui is an archaeological site located in Changsha, China. The site consists of two saddle-shaped hills and contained the tombs of three people from the Changsha Kingdom during the western Han dynasty : the Chancellor Li Cang, his wife Xin Zhui, and a male believed to have been their son. The site was excavated from 1972 to 1974. Most of the artifacts from Mawangdui are displayed at the Hunan Provincial Museum. It was called "King Ma's Mound" possibly because it was (erroneously) thought to be the tomb of Ma Yin (853–930), a ruler of the Chu kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The original name might have been the similarly-sounding "saddle-shaped mound".

Yu Dongyue was born in Liuyang, a city in Hunan province of China on December 4, 1967. He is the former arts editor of Liuyang Daily. In the Tiananmen protests of 1989, following a plan made by his friend Yu Zhijian, he and Lu Decheng threw eggshells full of paint at a portrait of China’s political figure Mao Zedong. Yu Dongyue was given a 20-year prison sentence for "sabotage" and "counter-revolutionary propaganda”. He had become badly disturbed psychologically. He was also criticized for his "very avant-garde views on art." He also had been subjected to various physical tortures because of “reactionary statements” he and his friends made about officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica Yu</span> American film director, writer and producer

Jessica Yu is an American film director, writer, producer, and editor. She has directed documentary films, dramatic films, and television shows.

<i>Iron & Silk</i> 1986 novel by Mark Salzman

Iron and Silk is a 1986 autobiographical novel written by Mark Salzman. It describes his experiences in China as an English teacher and as a student of Kung Fu. The book was later made into a film of the same name.

Liang Heng is a Chinese-American writer and scholar. He co-authored Son of the Revolution, a memoir of growing up during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution and After the Nightmare, another first-person account of China, this time describing a return visit during the period of "Reform and Opening-up" in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiang Jingyu</span> Chinese politician (1895–1928)

Xiang Jingyu, was one of the earliest female members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), widely regarded as a pioneer of the women's movement of China.

Yu Ruqin is a Chinese chemist. He served as president of Hunan University from 1993 to 1999 and is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Hunan</span> Provincial culture of Hunan, China

The culture of Hunan (湖湘文化) refers to the culture of the people based in the Hunan province of China. The mountainous terrain of Hunan separates it from the surrounding Chinese provinces, resulting in its own distinct characteristics. As the Xiang River runs through the province from south to north, Hunan is called "Xiang" for short and boasts its "Xiang Cuisine", "Xiang Embroidery", "Xiang Opera", and "Xiang Army". Therefore, the culture of Hunan is also called the Huxiang culture. The culture of Hunan is originated in Chu (state) culture from the Zhou dynasty. The meaning of Hunan culture contains two aspects. Generally speaking, it refers to the sum of folk customs, social consciousness, scientific culture, and material culture that have been created in the long-term history of people of all ethnic groups in Hunan. In a narrow sense, it refers to the spirit that developed and accumulated on this basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Changsha Kingdom</span> Kingdom within the Han Empire located in present-day Hunan and surrounding areas

The Changsha Kingdom was a kingdom within the Han Empire of China, located in present-day Hunan and some surrounding areas. The kingdom was founded when Emperor Gaozu granted the territory to his follower Wu Rui in 203 or 202 BC, around the same time as the establishment of the Han dynasty. Wu Rui and his descendants held the kingdom for five generations until Wu Zhu died without an heir in 157 BC. In 155 BC, the kingdom was reestablished for a member of the imperial family. However, the creation of this second kingdom coincided with the Rebellion of the Seven States and the subsequent reforms under Emperor Jing, and Changsha under the imperial family saw its autonomy greatly diminished. The kingdom was dissolved during Wang Mang's usurpation, briefly restored after the founding of the Eastern Han, and finally abolished in AD 33 and converted to a commandery under the imperial government.

Ding Yi is a Chinese contemporary artist currently based in Shanghai. He is a pivotal figure in the development of geometric abstraction in China, and is currently a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laodaohe Subdistrict</span> Subdistrict in Hunan, Peoples Republic of China

Laodaohe Subdistrict is a subdistrict in Kaifu District of Changsha, Hunan, China. As of the 2023 census it had a population of 43,000 and an area of 41.5-square-kilometre (16.0 sq mi).

References

  1. Hotaling, Debra J. (February 2, 1997). "He takes in strays. Adores his parents. Still finds his wife fascinating. Mark Salzman--acclaimed writer and certified hipster--finds it's . . . : Cool to Be Kind". The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  2. "A Martial Artist Marshals Career". The Los Angeles Times . Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  3. "Writing 'The Soloist' puts Salzman in a musical frame of mind The Soloist' and the soloist Mark Salzman's new novel revives a musical interest". Hartford Courant . Retrieved December 16, 2010.
  4. "Mark Salzman". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "MARK SALZMAN: An Atheist in Free Fall". The New York Public Library. Retrieved April 2, 2021.
  6. ""The Man in the Empty Boat", A Special One Man Performance". lapl.org. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  7. "MARK SALZMAN: An Atheist in Free Fall". The New York Public Library. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  8. "Mark Salzman Biography". www.allamericanspeakers.com. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  9. "West Valley calendar of events for the week of Dec. 27". The Mercury News. December 27, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  10. "Jessica Yu filmmaker and author". Jessica Yu. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  11. "Mark Salzman". Salon . Retrieved December 17, 2010.