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Serious? RISD President John Maeda grew up where? In a tofu factory? In Seattle?

 

Seattle has its famous Skid Row (aka Yesler Way). But I’ve been wondering recently whether South Weller Street, especially near Maynard Avenue South, has some type of overlooked history or interesting connection.

Why?

South Weller Street was home to Bruce Lee’s first martial arts studio. Uwajimaya, the popular Asian supermarket, borders it. And one of my favorite restaurants, Hing Loon, sits at the intersection with Maynard Avenue South.

In this video posted on TED, Seattle native John Maeda talks about how he worked in his family’s tofu factory in Chinatown, which is in the International District.

These days, Maeda leads the noteworthy Rhode Island School of Design, also known as RISD, as its president.

He’s a graphic designer, artist and computer scientist.

In his online talk, he shows an image of his mom’s “tofu wall of cooking,” which is made of bean curd images. It prompted some customers to think they had entered a restaurant.

Another topic was the first time when he and his brother ran the factory – and he cut the tofu in a giant curve, instead of straight lines. “Bad blocks,” he jokes.

“Because working in the store was so hard, I liked going to school,” he says later. “It was like heaven.”

In this interview with Color Magazine, he talked specifically about growing up in a tofu shop and his art work:

I grew up making tofu, so from a young age I understood the importance of making things by hand, making things in this older way.

I’ve never heard Maeda give a talk in person. But he seems like an approachable person. I like the fact that he personally writes for RISD’s blog.

He enjoys jogging with RISD students and Providence residents, he told Color Magazine.

And he said magazines have long attracted creative leaders, giving a great quote (and hope) for all the unemployed journalists in the country:

I don’t see it as impossible for an editor in chief to become the president of a college, because it’s a similar kind of thing.

His TED chat is about 17 minutes. In the early part, he talks about his family’s tofu shop.

Set some time aside if you want to hear about his studies in Japan, bento box lamp and a fish design he made out of iPods.

So, what’s the link to South Weller Street and Maeda, who previously taught at MIT?

Ron Chew, the historian and writer who grew up in Seattle, told me that when he was a kid he recalled Star Tofu in Chinatown.

In Maeda’s talk on TED, he never referred to the factory’s name.

But in his blog, Ken Judy talks about visiting John Maeda’s family at Star Tofu. The International Examiner also refers to his family and Star Tofu.

A walking guide posted on the University of Washington’s Web site notes that Star Tofu was located at 608 S. Weller St.

These days, restaurants and an herb store sit on this part of the street.

As I was considering all of this, I thought: Not bad.

Just about a block from where Lee once practiced his lightning-fast style of martial arts, Maeda grew up.

And when my parents visit the Seattle area, we walk down South Weller Street and head to Hing Loon for food.

The next time we go, I’ll point out the old location of Star Tofu – and tell them about Maeda.