Born to Chinese immigrants in 1952, year of the dragon, John Cho recalls gazing out of the family's apartment window in San Francisco's Chinatown and seeing the Great Star Theater on Jackson Street. The family's odyssey into the Central Valley ended when his parents established their small restaurant, Cho's Kitchen, in Selma. John Cho teaches Asian American Studies at Fresno City College. About three years ago, he was inspired to write a poem for his late mother. This opened the door to more poems, which eventually became his first collection, 88 Poems by Cho.