Roseburg Library to Host Japanese American Author Mitzi Asai Loftus

ROSEBURG, Ore. - Roseburg Public Library will welcome author Mitzi Asai Loftus in September for a program exploring her family's experience during the incarceration of Japanese Americans in World War II and her later journey to reconnect with her heritage.

Loftus, author of "From Thorns to Blossoms: A Japanese American Family in War and Peace," will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3, at the library, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Blvd. The event is free and open to the public and will be offered in person only.

Loftus, born Mitsuko "Mitzi" Asai, was not yet 10 years old in 1942 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. The order led to the forced removal of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast, including roughly two-thirds who were U.S. citizens.

Her family, which operated a fruit orchard in Hood River, was among those removed from their homes and sent to incarceration camps during the war. While much of the family remained in the camps, two of Loftus' older brothers served with the U.S. Army in the Pacific.

When the family returned to Hood River after the camps began closing, they encountered a community that had changed dramatically. Racism and hostility followed their return, and Loftus eventually distanced herself from her Japanese heritage and even her birth name.

Years later, a Fulbright grant took her to Japan to teach, an experience that helped her reconnect with the culture and identity she had once rejected.

In "From Thorns to Blossoms," published by Oregon State University Press, Loftus recounts those experiences along with her later career as a high school English teacher and college instructor in English as a Second Language.

Copies of the book will be available at the Sept. 3 event for $25, with payment accepted by cash or check only.

The book can also be checked out in physical form through Roseburg Public Library or digitally through Libby.

For more information about the program, contact Roseburg Public Library at 541-492-7050 or library@roseburgor.gov.