English was unsurpassed. He once wrote a paper for me in my freshman year of college because I was getting behind in my assignments (a direct result of being distracted by Bruce).
You will not always read perfect grammatical English in his letters because, even though he knew the proper rules better than most native speakers of English, he did not always take the time to construct perfect sentences in casual correspondence. Bruce’s thoughts and emotions spilled out onto the paper as, in Chinese, his mind flowed as naturally as the waterfall tumbles over the precipice.
I will give you my heart, please don’t give me your head only.
—Bruce Lee
Absorb Bruce’s letters through the walls of your heart, not through the mental process of your head.
—Linda Lee Cadwell
INTRODUCTION
You are holding in your hands the literary equivalent of Bruce Lee’s private photo album. Each and every one of these letters represents a snapshot of events and occurrences that were taking place in his life at the moment he recorded them.
As such, each letter represents a historical milestone in the life of one of the twentieth century’s most charismatic and fascinating human beings. This book will allow you to be by Lee’s side as he steps onto the boat that will bring him back to America for the first time since he was born there eighteen years earlier. You will learn of his plans, ambitions, and dreams (“practical dreams” as he would call them), which ones he actually willed to completion, and which ones he allowed to pass from existence.
You will be by his side as he begins to introduce to America the then-unknown martial art of gung fu. You will share the deep philosophic wisdom and counseling he offered to gentlemen like Taky Kimura, his most trusted friend and his assistant instructor at his first formal martial art school in Seattle, Washington.
You will witness Lee at his most creative, as he begins to unveil plans to develop his own unique and revolutionary martial art system, sowing the seeds of what would become his martial masterpiece of human freedom and personal expression, jeet kune do.
You will also be by his side as success begins to beckon, when, in the mid-1960s, he is given the role of Kato in the short-lived “Green Hornet” TV series. You will also learn of his dignity and grace under pressure, when this TV series was canceled and Hollywood virtually turned its back on this passionate young man of destiny. You will not see him wallowing in self-pity, but instead keeping busy trying to cheer up his friends, such as tae kwon do master Jhoon Rhee, and students such as Larry Hartsell.
You will also be privy to highly personal correspondence between Bruce and his wife, Linda, throughout the most challenging periods in his life. You will witness the pain of his separation from his family, his love for and soul-deep pride in his children, his delight in finally being able to provide for his family’s future, his disillusionment with the “jet set” of the late 1960s, and his feelings, friendships, and experiences with celebrities such as Roman Polanski, James Coburn, and Steve McQueen.
Perhaps above all, you will see firsthand how his dedication to quality and self-improvement resulted in his first appearance in a leading role, instantly establishing him as the most exciting film actor of his era, and how the heads of Western studios, who only months before had condemned him as “unbankable” in North America, were now flying across the Pacific Ocean to persuade him to star in their North American feature films.
You will also experience Bruce Lee in his pensive, quiet, and reflective moments. Writing letters to friends and business associates, he soulfully expresses his wish that humans act humanely, that they be “real,” “honest,” and “genuine” in their dealings with other human beings.
And, sadly, you will share his last thoughts and hopes, written in what would prove to be his final letter—a letter that is both tragic in its unfulfillment and ironic in its promise—which he wrote to his friend and attorney, Adrian Marshall, only hours before his death.
These are the letters of a great man who accomplished many great things and made a difference in this world. They prove that Bruce Lee made full use of the thirty-two years of life that destiny granted him. They are presented in chronological order in hope that they may both move and enlighten you in a manner befitting the way he moved and enlightened all who were fortunate enough to know him.
These letters reveal that his life epitomized the noble ethos of refusing to accept anything less than his personal best. His life embodied a personal philosophy of daily improvement, of cultivated greatness, of decency, of the recognition of the value of interpersonal relationships, of overcoming adversity, and of the glorious triumph of the human spirit. Finally, Bruce Lee’s letters reflect a life dedicated to the ideals of “love, peace, and brotherhood,” which—fittingly—happens to be the heartfelt phrase with which he so often concluded his letters.
—John Little
A CHRONOLOGY OF BRUCE LEE’S LIFE
| November 27, 1940 | Bruce “Jun Fan” Lee born in the “hour of the dragon” (between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM) in the “year of the dragon.” |
| February 1941 | Appears in his first film. He is three months old. |
| 1946 | In Hong Kong, Bruce Lee begins to film the first of what will total twenty Cantonese-language films before the age of eighteen. |
| 1952 | Enters Hong Kong’s La Salle College, a Catholic boys’ school. |
| 1953 | Begins to study gung fu under Yip Man, the venerated grandmaster of the Wing Chun system. |
| 1958 | Wins Hong Kong’s Crown Colony Cha-Cha Championship. |
| March 29, 1958 | Enters St. Francis Xavier High School. |
| April 29, 1959 | Departs Hong Kong for America. |
| May 17, 1959 | Arrives in San Francisco. |
| September 3, 1959 | Arrives in Seattle, Washington. Enters Edison Technical School, beginning in fall quarter. |
| December 2, 1960 | Graduates from Edison Technical School. |
| May 27, 1961 | Enters the University of Washington, beginning in spring quarter. |
| March 26, 1963 | Returns to Hong Kong to visit his family for the first time in four years. |
| August 1963 | Returns to Seattle. Leaves the University of Washington after spring quarter 1964. |
| July 19, 1964 | Establishes a gung fu institute in Oakland, California. |
| August 2, 1964 | Performs at the International Karate Tournament in Long Beach, California. |
| August 3, 1964 | Begins gung fu instruction in Oakland. |
| August 17, 1964 | Marries Linda Emery in Seattle. |
| February 1, 1965 | Bruce and Linda’s son, Brandon Bruce Lee, is born in Oakland on Chinese New Year’s Eve, the “year of the dragon.” |
| February 8, 1965 | Bruce Lee’s father, Lee Hoi Chuen, passes away in Hong Kong. |
| March 1966 | The Lee family moves to Los Angeles, California. |
| June 6, 1966 | Shooting of “The Green Hornet” TV series begins. |
| February 5, 1967 | Officially opens the Los Angeles chapter of the Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute. |
| May 6, 1967 | Performs at National Karate Championships in Washington, D.C. |
| June 24, 1967 | Appears at All-American Open Karate Championship, Madison Square Garden, New York City. |
| July 1967 | Names his way of martial art jeet kune do. |
| July 14, 1967 | Hired to appear in episode of “Ironside” TV series, shot in Los Angeles. |
| July 30, 1967 | Performs at the Long Beach International Karate Tournament. |
| June 23, 1968 | Attends National Karate Championships in Washington, D.C. |
| July 5, 1968 | Hired as the technical director for the movie The Wrecking Crew. |
| August 1, 1968 | Hired to play a bad guy in MGM movie Little Sister (later renamed Marlowe). |
| October
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