Stereotypes of East Asians in the United States forms of racial discrimination or social issues in American society at large, and that their community is thriving, having "gained" socioeconomic success through their own merit. Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan are two important and well-known fictional East Asian characters in America's cultural history. Created by Sax Rohmer and Earl Derr Biggers in the early part of the 20th century, Fu Manchu is the embodiment of America's imagination of a threatening mysterious East Asian people while Charlie Chan is an apologetic submissive Chinese-Hawaiian detective who represents America's archetypal "good" East Asian. Both characters found widespread popularity in numerous novels and
Charlie Chan (composer) of up to 15 musicians at school, along with drama and music camps. One of Chan's early major orchestration assignments at drama camp was for a stage adaption of the novel "They Shoot Horses Don't They?". Originally named Maryann Chan at birth, she was "christened" Charlie Chan around this time by friends at a drama camp. The name stuck. As Chan grew into adulthood, the musical influences that stayed with her included an eclectic range: from classical greats Mahler, Smetana and Wagner, through contemporary composer/artists Laurie Anderson, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Philip Glass and Keith Jarrett, to world-renowned Pakistani musician Nusrat Fateh