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Bill Lee

Goodreads Author

Born

in San Francisco, The United States

Member Since

January 2013

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Bill Lee is a second-generation Chinese American who grew up in the underworld of San Francisco Chinatown. He witnessed his first shooting at age eight, and became involved in numerous street gangs, including the gang responsible for the Golden Dragon Massacre. Bill graduated with honors in Psychology from San Francisco State University and spent most of his career as a consultant retained by top executives in Silicon Valley. He was employed at ESL, a TRW subsidiary, when a gunman massacred seven of his coworkers. Bill was a key member of the crisis response team, who worked with police and counselors to assist trapped employees, victims, and their respective families. His personal account of the Chinatown gang wars as well as the Golden Dr Bill Lee is a second-generation Chinese American who grew up in the underworld of San Francisco Chinatown. He witnessed his first shooting at age eight, and became involved in numerous street gangs, including the gang responsible for the Golden Dragon Massacre. Bill graduated with honors in Psychology from San Francisco State University and spent most of his career as a consultant retained by top executives in Silicon Valley. He was employed at ESL, a TRW subsidiary, when a gunman massacred seven of his coworkers. Bill was a key member of the crisis response team, who worked with police and counselors to assist trapped employees, victims, and their respective families. His personal account of the Chinatown gang wars as well as the Golden Dragon and ESL massacres are detailed in "Chinese Playground," which is available in digital format, including Kindle.

Lee's latest book, "Born-Again Buddhist: My Path to Living Mindfully and Compassionately with Mood Disorders" (April 2014) has just been released on Amazon.com. In it, he shares with readers how, as a practicing Buddhist, he integrated mindfulness meditation and other Buddhist practices with psychotherapy to effectively treat his mood disorders, including manic depression, post-traumatic stress, rage, and addiction.

Lee is also the author of "Born to Lose: Memoirs of a Compulsive Gambler," which describes his 40-year gambling addiction and recovery. The book's publisher is Hazelden and it is available in both paperback and digital format.

Additional Information:

• Have written for the San Francisco Chronicle, AsianWeek, and professional journals. Have been featured on the History Channel, A&E Television, FOX network, Spike TV, PBS, Radio Television Hong Kong, and national public radio.
• 30+ years of experience in corporate employment, executive/technical search consulting, corporate intelligence; assisting with re-organizations as well as mergers/acquisitions. Have successfully supported top executives, including Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt.
• Operated Career Insights, assisting clients in composing effective résumés and developing successful job search strategies
• Have counseled serious offenders at the San Francisco Juvenile Justice Center (formerly the Youth Guidance Center)

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Combine Editions
Bill Lee’s books

Average rating: 3.89 · 200 ratings · 24 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	Chinese Playground: A Memoir 3.99 avg rating — 108 ratings — published 1999 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Born to Lose: Memoirs of a Compulsive Gambler 3.70 avg rating — 92 ratings — published 2005 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Born-Again Buddhist: My Path to Living Mindfully and Compassionately with Mood Disorders 4.80 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chinese Playground: A Memoir by Bill Lee (2014-06-10) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Bill’s Quotes

“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

tags: courage, mindfulness, pain, self-assessment, self-awareness, truth

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Bill’s Groups

Goodreads Authors/Readers — 55571 members — last activity 2 hours, 7 min ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more

Mindful Readers — 215 members — last activity Nov 21, 2018 12:38PM
A group for Zen Buddhists or anyone that enjoy the words of Suzuki Roshi, Maezumi Roshi, Thich Nhat Hanh and other great Zen/Chan masters. We also hav ...more

Buddhist — 473 members — last activity Oct 07, 2025 06:22AM
A group for readers of Buddhist literature.

e-Sangha — 430 members — last activity Apr 14, 2023 04:37AM
Sangha is a pali word meaning "assembly" or "gathering". It is the community established by Buddha. This group is here to serve as an online gathering ...more

Amazon Kindle Prime Readers & KDP Select Authors — 1126 members — last activity Dec 03, 2025 06:47AM
This is a group for readers who own a Kindle and are enrolled in Kindle Prime. Authors who have their books currently in the KDP Select program are en ...more

*~Can't Stop Reading~* — 2466 members — last activity Jul 22, 2025 08:48AM
Everyone is welcome, this is a book club for all genres! For those of us who like to read everything!

Shrink Rap (Psychology Books) — 1202 members — last activity Dec 27, 2023 06:57PM
This is an open group for students, amateurs, and professionals of psychology. It is intended to connect mental health professionals from all fields t ...more

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