Jasmine Lawi

Dearest Reader,

I am honored to receive your undivided attention.

My journey as a writer began in 1979 when the Islamic Revolution struck Iran. It was the terrifying “shot heard around the world.”

My parents and many Iranian Jews alike feared religious persecution and a Holocaust. Shortly after, my family courageously left Iran for freedom.

We roamed with great precision and diligence inside the Holy Land (Israel) for one arduous year. Thereafter, we made a five year pit stop inside the arctic freeze of Queens, New York before we landed on the seashores of sunny California.

On my eighth Birthday, I bid farewell to our tiny apartment on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. To this day, I make sure to point out every building that I had once lived in, and there were many!

Just to name a few in chronological order (and don’t be fooled by their “fancy” names), we lived at: the Westwood Versailles, the Wilshire Picasso, the Pink Lady Hotel, and the Royal Estina.

We moved because we got evicted, and we got evicted because we were immigrants.

I neatly stowed this in life’s treasure chest of silver linings. Sometimes, life is unfair and people can be mean. Even so, in 1985 we bought our home and stayed forever.

I am proud to say that I grew up in Los Angeles. Establishments such as the Westfield (otherwise known as the “Century City Mall” to us local Angelenos) are actually iconic places where I had my first date, first kiss, first breakup, and of course the first spot that I drove to when I turned 16.

I am also married, and I have two babies. I never dreamed that I could have both.

I survived wicked blind dates, only to marry my summer fling and get pregnant the good old fashion way. Surely, the Universe has blessed me in tricky ways, and I am very grateful.

As you may know, Los Angeles is home to the largest Persian Jewish community. Many secretive yet beloved immigrant stories are slowly unraveling and must be heard. One of them, is mine.

"Persian Tea" chronicles my family’s adventures. These adventures include my father’s dare-devil encounter with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, an intimate rendezvous with a music legend only after believing that I was the FBI’s “Most Wanted,” navigating through the prickly terrain of private school, my close-encounter with danger inside the Vatican, and intrepid journeys inside Israel, which ultimately changed my luck in life and reshaped my future.

My husband encouraged me to write "Loving Notes for a Beautiful Life." He thinks that I’m hilarious and quirky, which aren’t usually adjectives used to describe Persian Jews-trust me. He even wants me to dye my hair pink. I haven’t yet. A cat may have nine lives, but my grandmother only has one.

My real-life stories told through my journal reveal the toils of motherhood, the angst of childhood trauma, the sorrow after a shattered friendship, the delight in steamy romance and shame in forbidden love, and my tenacious faith in God before a dream came true.

I invite you to read my books with an open heart and get ready for a wild journey across the globe!

You are welcome to connect with me.

With gratitude,

Jasmine Lawi