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Palm Harbor Man Tells Story of Life in Asia, U.S.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: May 17, 2008

On the front door, Chinese and Japanese characters are etched in the glass. Walk through the door, and you are in a new world – a fusion of China, Japan and the United States.

That's because it is the home of Alden E. Matthews. Matthews spent his childhood in China, his professional life in Japan and is now living his retirement in Palm Harbor.

His book, "My Three Worlds," recently published by AuthorHouse, recounts his experiences in the three countries.

"He has lived so much of the history in two major countries, as well as the U.S.," said Matthews' wife, former Pinellas County Commissioner Sallie Parks. "I think that perspective is pretty unique."

Sitting in his Palm Harbor home at a table with crossword puzzles and the international-relations journal Foreign Affairs on it, the 86-year-old Matthews recounts how he had an insider's look at China by living there until he was 16. His parents were missionaries in cities in northern China under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

Formed in the first decade of the 19th century, the stated mission of the American Board of Commissioners – phrased in the less politically correct parlance of the time – was spreading the Christian message to "heathen lands." It became part of the United Board for World Ministries in 1961.

Matthews easily learned the Mandarin language as a youngster and wondered why the Mandarin pronunciation of his parents, who had learned the language as adults, sounded so strange. "To this day, Chinese still feels like my first language," he writes.

The servants taught him street Chinese. In his book, he describes how many years later, as an adult visiting China, he heard a Chinese man using a strong expletive. When the man realized from Matthews' expression that Matthews understood the meaning, the embarrassed Chinese man disappeared into the crowd.

The young Matthews developed a respect for the Chinese, whom he called "very well mannered and well educated."

"I always felt like a country bumpkin in their homes."

After returning to the United States, at age 16, Matthews finished his schooling at Grinnell College, in Grinnell, Iowa, and religious training at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

He returned to China in 1947 and became a missionary serving 15 churches near the city of Fuzhou, also known as Fuchow. But he and other missionaries had to leave in 1950 because of the advance of the Communists in China.

The Board of Commissioners then sent him to Japan in 1952. He lived there until 1995, doing a variety of work, including teaching and administration.

The difference between China and Japan is similar to the contrast between California and New England, Matthews noted. China is like the laid-back California.

The Japanese are not as quick as the Chinese to accept outsiders, he said. "You have to prove yourself. You have to make the team."

While living in Japan, his first wife, Derrith Lovell Matthews, passed away, in 1986. He later met his current wife, Parks, who was then working in Japan.

Parks appears to share her husband's love of the Far East. Their home is decorated with Asian art, and a set of indoor slippers awaits visitors in keeping with the Japanese custom of slipping out of shoes into slippers at the entryway of a home.

Did he encounter any surprises in writing the book?

"I think I did learn my life is rather unusual," Matthews said.

Signing today

Alden E. Matthews will sign copies of his book 1 - 3 p.m. today, May 17, at Oak Trail Books, 1219 Florida Ave., Palm Harbor. For more information call 727-785-1960.

The book is available at the Author House www.authorhouse.com>Web site and online bookselling sites.

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