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Pao Lor’s stirring journey of self-discovery and belonging in his new home—America.
“In Hmong, the word bamboo or ntsuag has two meanings. It refers to the bamboo plant, which has many significant cultural and practical uses in Hmong life. The word also means orphan. Therefore, bamboo son, in Hmong, means tub ntsuag or orphan son. To survive and succeed as a Hmong orphan, like bamboo, one must be resilient and adaptable, bend without breaking, and stand tall against enormous odds.”
In this follow-up to his acclaimed memoir, Modern Jungles, Pao Lor picks up his story as a young Hmong immigrant building a new life in a new home and shares the narrative of his ensuing journey into adulthood. Lor emerged from war and tragedies in the jungles of Laos and refugee camps of Thailand in the 1970s to pursue a vision of the American dream in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the 1980s. The distance between his humble beginnings and that dream life was littered with challenges as well as possibilities.
Lor’s transformation from an insecure but determined high school student to a husband, father, teacher, administrator, and author is marked by triumph and defeat, trauma and joy, and always hope and optimism. As he navigates school, first loves, family relationships, and a career, Lor must contend with language barriers, discrimination, and his own inner demons stemming from feelings of inferiority. Threads of his identity—Hmong, American, and Wisconsinite—intersect and occasionally come into conflict.
Lor’s search for belonging comes full circle when he travels to Laos and Thailand with his wife, Maya, in 2022. Seeing his birthplace for the first time in forty-five years, he revisits the isolated mountain villages where he spent his early childhood; the places where his parents and sister died as the family fled the region in the violent aftermath of the Vietnam War; and the two refugee camps where Pao and his siblings lived before being relocated to the United States when he was seven. As he reexamines these memories and reconciles his past, Lor finds peace and the freedom to move forward with his soul renewed.
Lor’s story is an uplifting journey of resilience, adaptation, love, and forgiveness, inspiring readers to reflect on the meaning and accessibility of the American dream.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pao Lor is Associate Dean of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. Prior to this appointment, he served as budgetary chair for the Professional Program in Education and held the Wood Baer Professorship of Education at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. He started his career as a university academic advisor and then served as a middle and high school administrator, teacher, and coach before joining UW–Green Bay in 2005. Lor is also the author of Modern Jungles: A Hmong Refugee’s Childhood Story of Survival, published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press. He enjoys spending time with family, playing soccer, doing house chores, biking, motorcycling, and relaxing. He currently resides with his family and their two cats in Kimberly, Wisconsin.
PRAISE
“Pao Lor’s Bamboo Son offers a compelling and deeply personal narrative of his journey from war-torn Laos to becoming an educational leader in Wisconsin, blending memoir, cultural history, and critical reflection. His exploration of displacement, belonging, and the transformative power of education deeply resonated with me as someone with similar lived experiences.”
—Chia Youyee Vang, author of Hmong America: Reconstructing Community in Diaspora
“From a teenage boy struggling to buy soccer cleats to a successful family man and leading educator, Pao Lor recounts his life story with warmth, gentle humor, and gratitude. Bamboo Son inspires, invites, and teaches us, all at once.”
—Rebecca Meacham, author and professor of writing, publishing, and English, UW–Green Bay
“Bamboo Son is the story of a middle-aged Hmong man—not Hmong enough, not American enough—searching for a place to belong in America. It captures well the feeling of kho siab, the Hmong phrase for a deep loneliness and longing. This is an important voice that needs to be heard.”
—Mai Neng Moua, author of The Bride Price: A Hmong Wedding Story
