Ben Fong-Torres
Ben Fong-Torres | |
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Born | Fong Chan Ho January 7, 1945 Alameda, California, US |
Occupation | rock journalist, author, and broadcaster |
Alma mater | San Francisco State University |
Notable awards | Deems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing, 1974, N. Calif. Emmy Awards, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2019. |
Spouse | Dianne Sweet |
Website | |
www |
Ben Fong-Torres | ||||||||||||
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Fong Chan Ho | ||||||||||||
Hanyu Pinyin | Fāng Zhènháo [fáŋ ʈʂə̂nxǎʊ] | |||||||||||
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Benjamin Fong-Torres (方振豪; Cantonese: Fong Chan Ho; born January 7, 1945) is an American rock journalist best known for his association with Rolling Stone magazine[1] (until 1981) and the San Francisco Chronicle (from around 1982).
Biography
Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Fong-Torres's father Ricardo (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino in order to immigrate to the United States. The family later adopted the hyphenated surname, Fong-Torres. Ben is the brother of the late Shirley Fong-Torres.[2][3]
He grew up in Oakland, California, where he served as student body president at Westlake Junior High as well as a newspaper reporter/columnist and commissioner of assemblies at Oakland High School.[2]
Fong-Torres, who graduated from San Francisco State University in 1966 with a B.A. in radio-TV-film, was a writer and senior editor of Rolling Stone[4] nearly from the magazine's inception.[5]
In 1972, Ben's older brother, Barry, a probation officer and community worker, was murdered. Barry had been passionate about working with the Chinese community. In the Netflix documentary about Ben's work with Rolling Stone, Ben states that some may have wrongly thought his brother was with law enforcement.[6]
He conducted interviews for Rolling Stone of entertainment figures including
Fong-Torres was also a rock
Fong-Torres was a contestant on the game show Wheel of Fortune in 1993.[9]
He has published several books, including: Hickory Wind, a biography of
He was portrayed in the 2000 film Almost Famous by actor Terry Chen.[2] The fictional version of Fong-Torres is the lead character William Miller's editor at Rolling Stone. He is depicted on a mural on the side of a building at Haight and Clayton Streets in San Francisco.
Fong-Torres was inducted into the SF State Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004 and delivered the commencement address in 2005. Frequently called upon to MC community events, Fong-Torres has also sung at senior facilities, Broadcast Legends luncheons and weddings. As an officiant, he has married some 30 couples. Fong-Torres was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[13]
In 2010, Suzanne Joe Kai,[4] founder of production company StudioLA.TV, co-founder of the website AsianConnections.com, and a television and film producer, began work on a documentary on Fong-Torres titled Like a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres.[14][3] The film was licensed to Netflix and released for streaming on May 6, 2022, to English speaking countries.[15][7]
References
- ^ Abele, Robert (November 26, 2021). "Review: 'Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres' spotlights music scribe". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c Todd Inoue (October 10, 2021). "Documentary shows how an Oakland Chinatown kid became a more than 'Almost Famous' rock journalist". San Francisco Chronicle | Datebook. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ ProQuest 2581883453. Archived from the originalon 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ )
- ^ "Ben Fong-Torres Joined Rolling Stone in 1968 After Serving as Editor for SF State Student Newspaper". College of Liberal & Creative Arts, San Francisco State University. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ "The Rice Room by Ben Fong-Torres". Kirkus Reviews. February 15, 1994.
- ^ a b Carey, Matthew (2021-11-26). "'Like A Rolling Stone: The Life And Times Of Ben Fong-Torres' Trailer: Pioneering Asian-American Rock Journalist Takes Center Stage". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ "Documentary on Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres, an Asian American trailblazer, at Mill Valley Film Festival". Marin Independent Journal. 2021-10-07. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Anderson, Tomikka (30 December 2015). "Nomination Panelist: Ben Fong-Torres". SFGATE.
- ^ "The Doors With Ben Fong-Torres..." pastemagazine.com. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ "The Grateful Dead Scrapbook by Ben Fong-Torres, PopMatters". PopMatters. 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Moonalice Radio. He is director of content for Music City Hit Factory in San Francisco. Retrieved 21 August 2016
- ^ Independent Music Awards - 7th Annual Judges Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Liao, Min (2021-11-18). "A Rock Star Boswell Becomes a Doc Star". Alta Online. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
- ^ Meek, Andy (May 10, 2022). "New On Netflix: A Rolling Stone Music Journalist Gets A Documentary About His Life And Times". Forbes. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022.
External links
- Official website
- Ben Fong-Torres at IMDb
- Interview with Ben Fong-Torres October 2001, JournalismJobs.com. Includes photograph. (archived in 2005)
- Archive of Ben Fong-Torres' column Radio Waves from San Francisco Chronicle