Ben Fong-Torres
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Fong-Torres (方振豪; Cantonese
: Fong Chan Ho; born January 7, 1945, in Alameda, California
) is an American
rock
journalist
, author
, and broadcaster
best known for his association with Rolling Stone
magazine (through 1981) and the San Francisco Chronicle
(from around 1982).
, Fong-Torres' father, Ricardo Fong-Torres (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino in order to emigrate to the United States
. His family later adopted the hyphenated surname, Fong-Torres. He is the brother of the late Shirley Fong-Torres
.
He was portrayed in the 2000
film
Almost Famous
by actor Terry Chen
. The fictional version of Fong-Torres was character William Miller's editor
at Rolling Stone.
In real life, 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 from almost the magazine's inception. He conducted interviews for Rolling Stone of entertainment figures including Bob Dylan
, the Rolling Stones, comedian Steve Martin
and Linda Ronstadt
's first cover story in 1975. He also profiled Marvin Gaye
, Sly and the Family Stone, Bonnie Raitt
, Paul McCartney
and Rodney Dangerfield
. A Fong-Torres interview with Ray Charles
was awarded the Deems Taylor
Award for Magazine Writing in 1974.
Fong-Torres was also a rock DJ for San Francisco radio station
KSAN-FM
in the 1970s. He later hosted a live, weekly entertainment and talk show, Fog City Radio, on NPR affiliate KQED-FM
. On television, he is the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of the Chinese New Year Parade broadcast on KTVU
(Fox
) in San Francisco. In recent years, he has published Hickory Wind, a biography of Gram Parsons
; The Rice Room, a memoir; The Hits Just Keep on Coming, a history of Top 40 radio, and two compilations of past articles, Not Fade Away and Becoming Almost Famous (published in May 2006). His book with The Doors (The Doors By The Doors) was published by Hyperion in November 2006, and he published The Grateful Dead Scrapbook (Chronicle Books) in 2009. The Rice Room will be reprinted, with additional material and photographs, by the University of California Press in 2011. Since July 2005, Fong-Torres has written the bi-weekly column "Radio Waves" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. He has been a contributing editor to Parade
magazine, and serves as a music editor for TONEAudio, a web-based audio publication. In 2007 to 2008, he hosted Backstage Sundays on San Francisco's KFRC-FM
, and continues to do DJ work. He writes a weekly blog for the Web site of Wolfgang's Vault, and he appears regularly on the AsianConnections site.
Fong-Torres was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards
to support independent artists' careers.
In 2010, Suzanne Joe Kai, founder of the AsianConnections.com site and a television and film producer, began work on a documentary on Fong-Torres.
Cantonese
Cantonese is a dialect spoken primarily in south China.Cantonese may also refer to:* Yue Chinese, the Chinese language that includes Cantonese* Cantonese cuisine, the cuisine of Guangdong province...
: Fong Chan Ho; born January 7, 1945, in Alameda, California
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and broadcaster
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
best known for his association with Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine (through 1981) and the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
(from around 1982).
Biography
Due to the Chinese Exclusion ActChinese Exclusion Act (United States)
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by Chester A. Arthur on May 8, 1882, following revisions made in 1880 to the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. Those revisions allowed the U.S. to suspend immigration, and Congress subsequently acted quickly to implement the suspension of...
, Fong-Torres' father, Ricardo Fong-Torres (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino in order to emigrate to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His family later adopted the hyphenated surname, Fong-Torres. He is the brother of the late Shirley Fong-Torres
Shirley Fong-Torres
Shirley Fong-Torres was a chef, tour operator, and popular travel and food writer based in San Francisco, California....
.
He was portrayed in the 2000
2000 in film
The year 2000 in film involved some significant events.The top grosser worldwide was Mission: Impossible II. Domestically in North America, Gladiator won the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Actor ....
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Almost Famous
Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
by actor Terry Chen
Terry Chen
Terry Chen is a Canadian movie and television actor.Chen was born to ethnic Chinese parents originating from Taiwan and mainland China in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. After an education at schools in his hometown and in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he attended college in Calgary and...
. The fictional version of Fong-Torres was character William Miller's editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
at Rolling Stone.
In real life, Fong-Torres, who graduated from San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
in 1966 with a B.A. in radio-TV-film, was a writer and senior editor of Rolling Stone from almost the magazine's inception. He conducted interviews for Rolling Stone of entertainment figures including Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, the Rolling Stones, comedian Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
and Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
's first cover story in 1975. He also profiled Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
, Sly and the Family Stone, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield
Rodney Dangerfield , was an American comedian, and actor, known for the catchphrases "I don't get no respect!," "No respect, no respect at all... that's the story of my life" or "I get no respect, I tell ya" and his monologues on that theme...
. A Fong-Torres interview with Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
was awarded the Deems Taylor
Deems Taylor
Joseph Deems Taylor was a U.S. composer, music critic, and promoter of classical music.-Career:Taylor initially planned to become an architect; however, despite minimal musical training he soon took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices...
Award for Magazine Writing in 1974.
Fong-Torres was also a rock DJ for San Francisco radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
KSAN-FM
KSAN-FM
KSAN is a commercial radio station licensed to San Mateo, California, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain. It broadcasts to the San Francisco Bay Area...
in the 1970s. He later hosted a live, weekly entertainment and talk show, Fog City Radio, on NPR affiliate KQED-FM
KQED-FM
KQED-FM is an NPR-member radio station owned by Northern California Public Broadcasting in San Francisco, California.KQED-FM was founded by James Day in 1969 as the radio arm of KQED Television. The founding manager was Bernard Mayes who later went on to be Executive Vice-President of KQED TV and...
. On television, he is the Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of the Chinese New Year Parade broadcast on KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
(Fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
) in San Francisco. In recent years, he has published Hickory Wind, a biography of Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons
Gram Parsons was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist. Parsons is best known for his work within the country genre; he also mixed blues, folk, and rock to create what he called "Cosmic American Music"...
; The Rice Room, a memoir; The Hits Just Keep on Coming, a history of Top 40 radio, and two compilations of past articles, Not Fade Away and Becoming Almost Famous (published in May 2006). His book with The Doors (The Doors By The Doors) was published by Hyperion in November 2006, and he published The Grateful Dead Scrapbook (Chronicle Books) in 2009. The Rice Room will be reprinted, with additional material and photographs, by the University of California Press in 2011. Since July 2005, Fong-Torres has written the bi-weekly column "Radio Waves" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. He has been a contributing editor to Parade
Parade (magazine)
Parade is an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 500 newspapers in the United States. It was founded in 1941 and is owned by Advance Publications. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., Parade has a circulation of 32.2 million and a readership of nearly 70...
magazine, and serves as a music editor for TONEAudio, a web-based audio publication. In 2007 to 2008, he hosted Backstage Sundays on San Francisco's KFRC-FM
KFRC-FM
KFRC-FM is a commercial radio station in San Francisco, California, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It simulcasts sister station KCBS, which carries an all-news format...
, and continues to do DJ work. He writes a weekly blog for the Web site of Wolfgang's Vault, and he appears regularly on the AsianConnections site.
Fong-Torres was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards
The Independent Music Awards is an international program that honors top-ranked independent artists and releases in more than 50 Album, Song, Music Video and Design categories....
to support independent artists' careers.
In 2010, Suzanne Joe Kai, founder of the AsianConnections.com site and a television and film producer, began work on a documentary on Fong-Torres.
External links
- Official site
- Official biography, retrieved 2002-12-06. This article makes use of information from this source.
- Interview with Ben Fong-Torres -- October 2001, JournalismJobs.com, retrieved 2005-10-30. Includes photograph.
- Ben Fong-Torres' Monthly Column, at "Asian Connections". Last updated 2003-01January 2003January 2003: ← – January – February – March – April – May – June – July – August – September – October – November – December-Events:-January 1, 2003:...
, retrieved 2005-10-30. - Ben's sister Shirley offers an explanation of the hyphenated surname "Fong-Torres"
- Archive of Ben Fong-Torres' column Radio Waves from San Francisco Chronicle
- Ben Fong-Torres blog on tvland.com
- Ben Fong-Torres blog at Wolfgangsvault.com