China Simplified: Language Empowerment

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About the author

Stewart Lee Beck

Stewart Lee Beck 李渡 was born in the cornfields of Iowa and raised by Midwestern parents in Chicago, blissfully unaware that he would spend much of his adult life in China.

A language assessment test administered in the seventh grade rated Stewart's chances of learning a foreign language as just north of hopeless. He credits his modest level of success with Mandarin to his mastery of nearly every known mistake. Stewart shares this entertaining journey in his first book, China Simplified: Language Empowerment.

During his 24 years in China, Stewart served as a marketing director, bartender, magazine columnist, philanthropist, screenwriter, and documentary producer. This eclectic mix of experience, coupled with his endless fascination with Chinese history and culture, fueled his second book, China Simplified: History Flashback.

Stewart now travels the world to raise cultural awareness and connect diverse peoples. He refers to his Malaysian Chinese wife as "the crazy woman who keeps me sane."