Kim Wong Keltner

In the 4th grade, Kim Wong Keltner won a cutthroat spelling bee which encouraged her aspirations as a writer. Over the years, she honed her ear for dialogue while listening to elderly Chinese ladies dish dirt over endless games of mahjong. Kim met her husband, a native Californian of Norwegian-German descent, at a Chaucer seminar when she strode up to him, stretched out her hand and said, "Come with me if you want to live."