<p>An unforgettable Voyage...</p><p> Memoir of an 8-year old "boat person" who fl ees post-war communist Vietnam in search of a father and</p><p> brother rumoured to have escaped to the West. Braving sea storms and pirates in a overloaded fi shing</p><p> boat, Hiep and her younger sister are rescued by British sailors and interned in a series of horrifi c Hong</p><p> Kong refugee camps. Surviving by their wits, these displaced children of the sea create their own primitive</p><p> society amid the dispirited and desperate adults awaiting sponsors in the U.S.</p><p><br></p><p> At the age of eight in 1979, the Vietnam-born actress and her seven-years-old sister were separated from</p><p> their parents and left their village in central Vietnam as boat people. Their mother and older brother stayed</p><p> behind with her other children. The sisters lived in refugee camps in Hong Kong for three months, where they</p><p> were reunited with their father. They then immigrated to California before reuniting with their fi ve other</p><p> siblings. Her mother fi nally reunited with the family four years later.</p><p> Hiep was a premed student at UC-Davis, majoring in physiology, when she came to the open casting call with one</p><p> of her sisters for the Oliver Stone fi lm Heaven & Earth (1993) that was being held at San Jose State University</p><p> because several of her friends were doing it for fun. She was one of the sixteen thousand Vietnamese Americans</p><p> seen by casting scouts for the fi lm and was the one, out of the thousands, who got the starring role of Le Ly</p><p> Hayslip. Despite having no acting experience, she had half-dozen callbacks before she was fi nally chosen to</p><p> play the role of Le Ly Hayslip between the ages of thirteen to thirty-eight.</p><p> Since that time, She acted in several fi lms and television shows. She has graduated from college. She was the</p><p> owner and operator of the China Beach Vietnamese Bistro in Venice, California. She is now owner and Chef of</p><p> Le Cellier Restaurant Wine Bar in Marina Del Rey, California. complications from stomach cancer on Dec. 19, </p><p> 2017 in Los Angeles Hiep passed away. She was 46.</p><p> Above all, Hiep is the proud mother of two.</p><p><br></p><p> Author Hiep Thi Le</p><p> Co-founder Jill Powell</p><p><br></p><p> "Since I've know her from, Hiep always turned something negative into a positive. As a child, she faced her</p><p> dangers, adversities and self doubts with an innocence and sense of adventure which refl ects the true resilience</p><p> of refugee children separated from their families and left to fend for themselves."</p><p><br></p><p> -Le Ly Hayslip (Heaven and Earth )</p><p><br></p><p> "Most of us 'come-of-age' not just once, but many times as we navigate life's passages. Hiep's harrowing, </p><p> true-life journey from innocent village girl to street-wise refugee--told with charm, humor, and precocious</p><p> wisdom--turns a boat-person's Lord of the Flies into a true Vietnamese Exodus: the portrait of a blossoming</p><p> young American painted with a bamboo brush. Like a river fl owing to the sea, Hiep's story sweeps us past many</p><p> amazing people, places, and events that most of us can scarcely imagine. It's a voyage you won't want to miss."</p><p> </p><p>- Jay Wurts, coauthor of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>