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Show Martial arts star Bruce Lee's legacy grows in new business ventures BY ROBERT W . WELKOS A N D D O N LEE Los Angeles Times SHANGHAI, China - In the southern Chinese city of Shunde, a two-hour boat ride from Hong Kong, government officials are finalizing plans to build a Bruce Lee theme park, complete with a memorial hall and a large statue of the man they call the town's favorite "son." Never mind that the legendary Chinese American kung fu star was born in San Francisco and visited Shunde only briefly, when he was a boy of 5. Shunde is the hometown of Lee's father and grandfather, and that was enough for local resident Wang Dechao to prod the government to plow $125,000 into opening a Bruce Lee museum in an old teashop in Shunde in 2002. Since then, more than 300,000 people, some paying $1 for admission, have come to see its collection of Bruce Lee's rare letters, film posters and other memorabilia. Wang, who now works It's a question that his for Shunde's cultural and widow, Linda Cadwell, sports authority, hopes to 61, often asks herself. "I move the museum to the think about it a lot — what new theme park, which he he missed," Cadwell said says is projected to cost $19 in a recent interview. million and open before the "Professionally, I'm sure he 2008 Summer Olympics in probably would have stayed Beijing. in the film industry and CCTV, China's national the performing industry, network, has plans to but maybe not always as an produce a 40-part docuactor, because he loved to mentary about Bruce Lee. write." Then, pausing, she Meanwhile, Bruce Lee's brother, Robert, is planning added that this year, "He a movie about him, as is one would be 66" Lee died in Hong Kong on July 20,1973, of Lee's former students. They all have their sights set from a cerebral edema. An autopsy concluded that Lee on completing the works by had suffered from an allerthe Beijing Olympics. gic reaction. "I believe we will see Lee left no will and another round of Bruce Lee was not a wealthy man. In fever," Wang said. those days, there weren't Although he has been the movie-based action dead 33 years, Bruce Lee figures and video and comremains an enduringly puter games that line store powerful cultural figure. What if, people often ask, he shelves today. The estates hadn't died at age 32, barely of dead celebrities hadn't a month before the release of yet amassed the staggering licensing fees that they his blockbuster film "Enter do today, when, say, Elvis the Dragon"? Most believe that film would have catapulted him into the ranks of >ANGOXXXWARS Hollywood's superstars. But what then? see page 24 •ANNIVERSAY From page 22 for not having evacuated children or other loved ones in the face of the storm. Now the anniversary is dredging up recollections. "It's unsettling," said Julian Blunt, the executive director of an arts group here. "You're just remembering everything that happened." Blunt had persuaded his wife not to evacuate from their home just a few blocks from the Gulf, telling her everything would be fine. Then in the height of the storm, the columns on the front of their Biloxi home fell. "I thought we were done for," he said. "I told my wife, 'Baby get your shoes on,' because I thought we had to go under the house. "She looked up at me, and I'll never forget her face. She said, 'I thought you said we would be all right."' The event and its effect are just now finding a.place in the local culture and in the things disaster tourists buy here. A Bay St. Louis artist Nicki Violet has put together a book on sale locally of photos of the wreckage with punning captions. A wrecked movie theater is titled "Box Office Hit," while refrigerators beside the side of the road are "White Trash." Another resident, Solveig Wells, 62, a retiree, has put together quilts made from fabric that was washed out of her home and that she found on the beach months later, faded and marred by Katrina's effects. They are on display at the library. "There's lots of people who feel there are bits and pieces of their lives floating around all over the place," she said of the quilts. Whether or not the experience of Katrina will better prepare everyone for the next storm is unclear. Stallworth said many people are rebuilding homes at the same elevation — beating the deadline under new flood insurance guidelines — to save money. He said they cannot afford to raise their homes a dozen feet in the air, as is required in parts. Others, even those who narrowly evaded drowning, say they might not evacuate next time. Some said the searing experience,had no...^, ; lasting effects. ! Doug Niolet, 55, survived the storm by swimming to a towering live oak, climbing up and saying the rosary. Still, he struck a stoic stance. "People ask do have nightmares, but it never really affected me," he said. His wife disagreed. "He goes to church a lot more." Vicki said. Slow return Population in the Orleans Parish is less than 200,000, down from 460,000 before Katrina. Orleans Parish In thousands 500 400 300 PreKatrina I 2/06 New .Orleans, metro area, In millions ' ' 1.4 1.0 •_•. PreKatrina 2A>6 SOURCE: AP Brookings Institution Welcome Back, Aggies! vw | S.E. Needham Jewelers The Diamond Engagement Ring Store ... Since 1896 will be On The Quad Sign Up Today For your Student and SAVE at Smiths FOOD&DRUG STORES ^ YAT: Smiths 175 East 442 North or x. 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