Ben Fong-Torres

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Ben Fong-Torres
Ben Fong-Torres with Donald Sutherland at the Mill Valley Film Festival, 2005.
Ben Fong-Torres with Donald Sutherland at the Mill Valley Film Festival, 2005.
Born (1945-01-07) January 7, 1945 (age 76)
Alameda, California
Occupationrock journalist, author, and broadcaster
NationalityAmerican
Alma materSan Francisco State University
Notable awardsDeems Taylor Award for Magazine Writing, 1974, N. Calif. Emmy Awards, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2017, 2019.
SpouseDianne Sweet
Website
www.benfongtorres.com
Ben Fong-Torres
Fong Chan Ho
Chinese方振豪
JyutpingFong1 Zan3hou4
Cantonese YaleFōng Janhoùh
Hanyu PinyinFāng Zhènháo
[fáŋ ʈʂə̂nxǎu]

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 (until 1981) and the San Francisco Chronicle (from around 1982).[1]

Biography[]

Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Fong-Torres' father Ricardo (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino in order to immigrate to the United States. His family later adopted the hyphenated surname, Fong-Torres.[2] He is the brother of the late Shirley Fong-Torres.

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 nearly from the magazine's inception.

In 1972, Fong-Torres lost his older brother, Barry, a probation officer and community worker, in a Chinatown gang war.[3]

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 five-time Emmy Award-winning co-anchor of the Chinese New Year Parade broadcast on KTVU (Fox) in San Francisco.[4]

Fong-Torres was a contestant on the game show Wheel of Fortune in 1993.[5]

He has published several books, including: 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 was reprinted, with additional material and photographs, by the University of California Press in 2011. That year, Fong-Torres published Eagles: Taking It to the Limit (Running Press). In November 2013, Willin': The Story of Little Feat (Da Capo Press), was released.[6] In 2020, Welbeck published an updated version of his Eagles book, and he signed with Audible to narrate his memoirs and his book on Little Feat. From July 2005 to April 2019, Fong-Torres wrote the bi-weekly column "Radio Waves" in the San Francisco Chronicle's Sunday Datebook. He has been a contributing editor to Parade magazine, and has served as Senior Editor for Qello, an app and site that streams music concerts and documentaries. In 2007 to 2008, he hosted Backstage Sundays on San Francisco's KFRC-FM, and he was a DJ on BossBossRadio.com until 2016, when he became program director and DJ for Moonalice Radio.[7]

He was portrayed in the 2000 film Almost Famous by actor Terry Chen. The fictional version of Fong-Torres is the lead character William Miller's editor at Rolling Stone. He is depicted on a mural on the side of a building at Haight and Clayton Streets in San Francisco.

Fong-Torres was inducted into the SF State Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004 and delivered the commencement address in 2005. Frequently called upon to MC community events, Fong-Torres has also sung at senior facilities, Broadcast Legends luncheons and weddings. As an officiant, he has married some 30 couples. Fong-Torres was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[8]

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, called Like a Rolling Stone.

References[]

  1. ^ "Biography - Ben Fong-Torres". Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  2. ^ IMDb biography for Ben Fong-Torres
  3. ^ THE RICE ROOM by Ben Fong-Torres | Kirkus Reviews.
  4. ^ "Biography - Ben Fong-Torres". Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  5. ^ "Nomination Panelist: Ben Fong-Torres". 30 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Books". Ben Fong-Torres. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  7. ^ Moonalice Radio. He is director of content for Music City Hit Factory in San Francisco. Retrieved 21 August 2016
  8. ^ Independent Music Awards - 7th Annual Judges Archived March 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

External links[]

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