Author of ‘Given Away’ has New Prague ties
Author Kate Anne Kang had a lively discussion with 14 members of the Minnesota History Book Club at the New Prague Library the evening of Monday, July 26. Kang wrote “Given Away,” a memoir about her own adoption from South Korea and then finding and reuniting with her birth family. Early in her presentation she noted how she had lived in New Prague with her adopted family for three months.
“We then moved to St. Louis Park,” she said.
She asked if anyone remembered what happened in July, 1969. Several people answered that it was the United States moon landing. “In September, 1969 I had my own moon landing,” said Kang, adding that was when she arrived in the United States from Korea. She was between six and seven years old and her name at the time was Anny Kang, which became Catherine (Kate) Strand. Her adopted father was a pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church. Kang is a pen name and is actually pronounced Kong.
Kang had with her a yellowed piece of paper from a story that ran in The New Prague Times shortly after her arrival in the US.
Audience members, which included...
To see more on this story pickup the July 29, 2021 print edition of The New Prague Times.