Anthony Veasna So, SF author on the brink of stardom, dies at 28
Penelope Green, New York Times
Dec. 13, 2020
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This image provided by Ecco shows Anthony Veasna So. The author of the highly anticipated debut story collection, Afterparties, to be published in August, has died. So was 28. His death was announced Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, by his publisher, Ecco. (Chris Sackes/Ecco via AP)Chris Sackes/Associated Press
Anthony Veasna So, the author of crackling, kinetic and darkly comedic stories that made vivid the lives of first-generation Khmer Americans, died Tuesday at his home in San Francisco. He was 28.
Alex Torres, So’s partner, confirmed the death but said he did not know the cause. He said it was sudden and unexpected.
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As the primary English communicator of her Cambodian American family, Suely Saro became accustomed to speaking up at a young age.
First, it was the kindergarten lunch tickets she had to request for her and her brother. In elementary school she was placed in the English learners class and had to petition to be moved out of it. A few years later she spoke up to argue her way into the honors classes that she needed for college.
Soon she was preparing income assistance applications and other official documents for her parents, other family members, and even the friends of family members. She learned that there were people whom government reached, and those it did not.