Franklin Odo is chief of the Asian division at the Library of Congress and former director of the Asian Pacific American Program at the Smithsonian Institution. Before participating in a panel on “The Creation of Chinese America” at Zócalo, he sat down for our “In the Green Room” Q&A.
Q. What is the last habit you tried to kick?
A. The one that I was successful at was smoking, and that was decades ago. It was maybe my 18th try, but I haven’t smoked since the ‘70s.
Q. What fictional character do you most identify with?
A. I tend not to get really into the protagonists.
Q. Who is the one person living or dead you would most like to meet for dinner?
A. Maybe Jefferson. I’m working at the Library of Congress now and it’s his library that started it, so I’ve been thinking about that.
Q. What do you wish you had the nerve to do?
A. Really retire.
Q. What was the last thing that made you laugh really hard?
A. Probably listening to some of the stories my daughter has about our two grandchildren, who are very little.
Q. What’s your fondest childhood memory?
A. Being really clever at avoiding schoolwork in high school.
Q. What’s the best decision you ever made?
A. Probably to leave traditional Asian studies and begin working in what then was not even a field, Asian American studies.
Q. What would you eat for your last meal?
A. Probably pasta.
Q. What was the best lesson your parents taught you?
A. That I wouldn’t, in the end, get away with it.
Q. What is your greatest simple pleasure?
A. I don’t know if it’s simple, but eating and drinking.
To read more about the panel in which Odo participated, click here.
*Photo by Aaron Salcido.