K.W. Lee obit

Legendary journalist K.W. Lee dead at the age of 96 

He was not on the list.

Pioneer Asian American investigative journalist K.W. Lee died peacefully at the age of 96 Saturday March 8 with his family by his side at his Sacramento, CA home.

Lee stood for truth and challenged injustice throughout his career as a journalist at the Sacramento Union, The Korea Times English Edition, the Koreatown Weekly in Los Angeles, The Charleston Gazette in West Virgina and the Kingsport Times-news in Virginia.

He is best known for publishing some 120 articles on Chol Soo Lee, a fellow Korean American wrongfully convicted of a 1973 Chinatown murder in San Francisco.

The series of articles inspired a national Free Chol Soo Lee movement that united both college students and senior citizens in the Asian American and Korean American community. The protests and advocacy eventually led to his freedom from prison in 1983, 10 years after his conviction.

“It’s such a profound lost right now,” said Julie Ha, a journalist and filmmaker who won a national Emmy for her 2022 documentary Free Chol Soo Lee. She’s considered him a mentor since she was just 18.

“It’s such a profound lost right now. It almost feels like there aren’t the words in the English language to properly express what an incredible force of nature and force of good that K.W. Lee was,” Ha told AsAmNews in a quivering voice filled with emotions. “He was a real champion for the downtrodden. He not only inspired journalists, but people of conscience who wanted to make a positive difference in the world. You can count activists, lawyers, community leaders, educators.”

Lee is often referred to as the “Godfather of Asian American Journalism.” He is the first Korean immigrant to work as a mainstream reporter in the lower 48 states. The Asian American Journalists Association awarded him its first Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. He is also the first Asian American journalism to be recognized by the Freedom Forum in 1994 with its Free Spirit Award.

He’s won more than four dozen journalism awards in his lifetime, including the National Headliners Award in 1974 and 1983.

Born June 1, 1928 in Kaesong in what is now North Korea as Kyung Won Lee, he came to the United States in 1959 and studied journalism at West Virginia University and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

He first met his future wife Peggy Flowers in her role as an emergency nurse at Charleston General Hospital. He peppered her with questions about details about victims of accidents, DUIs and violent crime. He offered her a ride home on a rainy day and the romance blossomed.

Lee’s influence is far and wide.

Stephen Magagnini, the editor of the African American-owned weekly newspaper Sacramento Observer and longtime diversity reporter for the Sacramento Bee recalls Lee’s life with fondness and the one who influence his career more than any other. Magagnini, who is a White man, recalls being drafted by Lee to assist in writing many of the stories about Chol Soo Lee.

“K.W. Lee was the best mentor I ever had as a journalist,” Magnanini said during a phone interview with AsAmNews. “He was doing diversity reporting before journalism knew the word. He wrote about Black people and coal miners in West Virginia. He went into neighborhoods no one else at the Sacramento Union dared to go. He gave voice to people of all races. He taught me not only were these stories important, but they were interesting.”

Magnanini last visited Lee in his home a few months ago.

“I will miss his rare spirit and cantankerous personality. He impacted thousands and thousands of people.”

Lee is survived by his children Shane Lee (Sandee), Sonia Cook (Victor), and Diana Regan (Alan), Grandchildren Jacob Lee (Alicia), Jared Lee (Ellie), Hanah Cook, Jackson Cook, Lukas Regan and Layla Regan and great grandchildren Orion Lee, Altair Lee and Artemis Lee as well as many other relatives.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership.