“It’s a poor sort of memory that only looks backwards.”
—Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
Events & Media
“Time changes the proportion of things, and in later days it is preferable to have fewer sonnets and more conversation.”
— George Eliot, Middlemarch
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News/Reviews |
| Chase Alumni Association First Single Man to Adopt in China Peter Lighte is a rare bird – a 6’5” east coast gay Jewish man who would earn a doctorate in East Asian studies from Princeton, master Chinese calligraphy and leave academia to become a major force in Asia for Manufacturers Hanover Trust and Chemical Bank, later becoming the founding chairman of JPMorgan Chase Bank China and vice chairman of Global Corporate JPMorgan Chase Bank. Probably more important to Lighte, he become the first single man to adopt a baby in China. He ended up adopting two girls, raising them in his faith alongside his partner and eventual husband, the English composer Julian Grant… |
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| National Council for Adoption The Power of Cultural Insight Alive to diversion along the way, I am fortunate in having antennae which helped me discern purposeful adventure from frivolous distraction. How else could a gay and globetrotting Sinologist, born four years after the end of World War ll, have created a family? |
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| Asia Hands Society Featured Book Spring 2023: Straight Through the Labyrinth: Becoming a Gay Father in China. |
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BookReporter |
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| Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb Peter and Deborah discuss his newest book, Straight Through the Labyrinth: Becoming a Gay Father in China. Click here to read the interview. |
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| AmCham China Quartely Lighte reflects on his time serving in Beijing’s AmCham and discusses the relationships that were built and continue to this day. Click on the image at right to read the article. |
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“Focusing Proust-like on the objects that embody memories, Lighte hosts a tour of his life, from an American Jewish upbringing to a career in China and London. He exploits both meanings of the title by taking on the role of solicitous tour guide. These are lively, evocative autobiographical essays.” Read More
Lighte weighs in on the legacy of famous Princetonian, Woodrow Wilson: PrincetonAlumniReview-Lighte
Events
The Old Horse Knows the Way: Insights, Issues and the Way Forward with China – February 7, 2024 – The Nassau Club Peter Rupert Lighte, retired from a career in international banking, was founding chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank China. He lived abroad for almost three decades, dividing his time between London and Asia. Peter is also a sinologist who has taught Chinese history and philosophy. He is the author of several books about his experiences in China. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University in East Asian Studies. |
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Friday Night Dialogues―Peter Lighte: Straight Through the Labyrinth – September 1, 2023, 7:00 PM – Shelter Island Public Library Straight Through the Labyrinth chronicles the true story of a gay Jewish scholar of China caught in the crosshairs of the very history he has studied. Peter Lighte, intent on adopting a Chinese baby, navigates his way through daunting bureaucracy and unforeseen drama―and prevails, likely becoming Hong Kong’s first adoptive gay father. |
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LGBTQIA Alumni Authors Panel at Princeton Reunions 2023 – May 27, 2023, 10:30 AM-Noon – Bowl 002, Robertson Hall (home of SPIA, the School of Public and International Affairs) LGBTQIA alumni authors will read from and talk about their recent works. Ann Herendeen ’77, her books are “Queering the romance, from Phyllida to Jane Austen – and beyond”. Peter Rupert Lighte *81, author of Straight Through the Labyrinth: Becoming a Gay Father in China. Joe Ortiz *03, author of Gordon Merrick and the Great Gay American Novel. Gordon Merrick, author most-famously of The Lord Won’t Mind, was Princeton Class of 1939. |
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TCS Speaker Series: Straight Through The Labyrinth: Becoming a Gay Father in China – December 8, 2022, 6:00-7:00 PM Straight Through the Labyrinth chronicles the true story of a gay Jewish scholar of China caught in the crosshairs of the very history he has studied. Suddenly ensnared in Hong Kong’s handover back to China in 1997, Peter Rupert Lighte, intent on adopting a Chinese baby, navigates his way through daunting bureaucracy and unforeseen drama—and prevails, likely becoming Hong Kong’s first adoptive gay father. A second daughter soon follows, a story no less fraught, convincing him that purposeful synchronicity can thrash anything in the way of love. |
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Author: Peter Lighte in Conversation with Gil Steinlauf – November 15, 2022, 7:30 PM The author discusses his recently released book, “Straight Through The Labyrinth: Becoming a Gay Father in China,” with Rabbi Gil Steinlauf of Princeton University. Book signing to follow. November is National Adoption Month, a month that acknowledges those whose lives have been impacted by adoption. “Straight Through the Labyrinth” chronicles the true story of a gay Jewish scholar of China caught in the crosshairs of the very history he has studied. Suddenly ensnared in Hong Kong’s handover back to China in 1997, Peter Rupert Lighte, intent on adopting a Chinese baby, navigates his way through daunting bureaucracy and unforeseen drama—and prevails, likely becoming Hong Kong’s first adoptive gay father. A second daughter soon follows, a story no less fraught, convincing him that purposeful synchronicity can thrash anything in the way of love. The conversation will be followed by a book signing with all the proceeds from books sales being donated to Capital Harmony Works, an organization that empowers young people in Trenton to transform their lives and society through shared musical experiences. |
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| Friday Night Dialogues: Peter Lighte: “The Old Horse Knows the Way” – July 22, 2022, 7:00 PM – It is impossible to understand China’s present—let alone its future—without grasping themes that have ricocheted through time from the distant past. Having studied Chinese history and philosophy and putting it to the test when first living in Beijing during the early 1980s, Sinologist Peter Lighte, ‘The Old Horse’, helps us to see the way forward. |   |
| Peter Lighte Telling Tales – Aug 6, 2021, 7:00 PM – Peter reads selections from his two new manuscripts: Straight through the Labyrinth and Telling Tales at the Shelter Island Library. |  |
| Princeton Reunions: Taking Pause (Virtual Tour): What is irreplaceable to you? – May 21, 2021 @ 1:00 pm – 1:45 pm – Taking Pause is a documentary portrait project that asks people to reflect on what in their lives feels most essential. With what do we identify and connect most deeply? What truly matters to us, and why? |   |
| A Midsummer Brunch Benefit for OneSky – July 14, 2019 – Join Peter Lighte and Julian Grant for a benefit to support the work of OneSky. |  |
| Dumplings and Discussion with Peter Lighte – Oct. 14, 2018 – Peter will host a discussion about his work and his time in China at an event to benefit OneSky for All Children. |  |
| Prudential Fireside Chat – Oct. 25, 2018 – Peter will join Prudential Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld during a Prudential Employee exclusive event to discuss Peter’s incredible journey and explore the multifaceted experiences that have shaped his story. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss Peter’s book, “Host of Memories: Tales of Inevitable Happenstance,” and learn his secrets to success as an educator, sinologist and founding chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank China. A limited number of copies of Peter’s book will be available prior to the event. |  |
The duo of Lisa See and Peter Lighte discuss China and bring news of One Sky to friends and neighbors at the Shelter Island Library.
Peter was a guest speaker at the Shelter Island Public Library on September 14th, 2017 for a talk titled “‘Twenty Years in a Changing China’: A Conversation with Best-Selling Author Lisa See and One Sky Founding Board Member Peter Lighte”.
At home in Princeton, New Jersey, Peter hosted a debut reading from Host of Memories: Tales of Inevitable Happenstance. Author Peter Lighte shared stories from his forthcoming memoir as part of a fundraiser for Half the Sky Foundation.
Read more at: http://shelterislandreporter.timesreview.com/2017/09/10/twenty-years-changing-china/
Readings/Booksignings
Tuesday, June 7, 2016, 7:00 pm
[words] Bookstore
179 Maplewood Avenue
Maplewood, New Jersey
973.763.9500
www.wordsbookstore.com
Event Flyer
Radio
From the Conference on World Affairs:
Karen Raforth discusses Gay Family Values with Peter Lighte, April 7, 2014
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![Peter appears at [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey!](http://peterlighte.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/image1-533x400.jpg "Peter appears at [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey!")
Peter appears at [words] Bookstore in Maplewood, New Jersey!
Peter Lighte at Boulder CO Barnes & Noble
Peter welcomes his hometown Princeton crowd at Labyrinth Bookstore, November 2015
Peter Lighte – Sunday afternoon reading & book signing at Southhampton bookstore, Sunday, August 9th
Peter Lighte with Shelter Island Librarian at his reading, Friday, September 4th
Peter Lighte’s mosaic art on exhibit at The Shelter Island Public Library, Shelter Island, New York.
Straight Through The Labyrinth
Host of Memories
Host of Memories now on Kirkus Reviews
“Focusing Proust-like on the objects that embody memories, Lighte hosts a tour of his life, from an American Jewish upbringing to a career in China and London. He exploits both meanings of the title by taking on the role of solicitous tour guide. These are lively, evocative autobiographical essays.” Read More
Pieces of China
