Name: Kyoung S. Lee

City: Toledo, Ohio

Age: 55

Occupation: Wig store owner/Writer

How did you end up in Ohio? We moved to the United States about 30 years ago because my husband was a graduate student at Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. After he finished school, he got a job in Toledo, Ohio, so we moved.

How do you spend your time in Toledo? My time is divided between a triangle: Toledo, Ann Arbor and Detroit. Ann Arbor is about one hour northwest of Toledo, and Detroit is about an hour and a half northeast. I sing in the University of Michigan Choral Union, so I go to Ann Arbor every Monday for rehearsals. Many of our concerts are with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, so I travel to Detroit, too. Toledo is rather boring. While I’m at the store, I spend most of my free time writing. In the evenings, I chat online with my family and friends who live in Korea.

Where do you get your Korean food and groceries? In Toledo, there are only two Korean grocery stores, and no Korean restaurants. If I want to go to a Korean restaurant, I usually drive to Ann Arbor or Detroit.

Kyoung Lee began writing while working at her wig shop. Here she is accepting an award for her novel, On Highway 475.

How does being Korean affect your life in your city? Since there aren’t that many Koreans here, I kind of stand out. I don’t have that many Korean friends here, so at times it can get very lonely. I started writing because Toledo is so isolating. In the past, I would read a lot while I worked at my store — mostly my kids’ English storybooks. One day, I started translating English novels into Korean. I found a publisher in Korea, and soon they asked me for original material. I have published several short stories, and won a few awards. I’m a member of an International Pen Club, and write for a couple of literary journals, so most of my time in Ohio is actually spent writing.

What do you like about your city? It has many nice metro parks. There is a lot of beautiful nature here, and the parks are well maintained. I go to the parks as often as possible.

What do you dislike about your city? There’s nothing to do, except going to parks! There aren’t many activities here. Toledo used to have its own symphony chorale, which I was a member of, but it dissolved a few years ago.

Kyoung with her family (from left to right): husband Soo Il, Kyoung, son-in-law Kevin, daughter Alice and son Jed.

What do people do for fun in your city? Since we’re near Lake Erie, some people go boating and do other water activities. I also see a lot of people at the parks. The pathetic thing is that since there aren’t many interesting things going on, most of the people go to the shopping mall for fun. It really discourages me when I see all those people at the mall. They should have better things to do with their time.