Little Dragon – ruth weiss

I first met ruth weiss in 2008 in San Francisco. I had been living and traveling between the San Francisco Bay Area and Shenzhen, China, since 1999. I started a company along the South China Sea there a year before we met. We realized we had more than a few connections - we both grew up in Chicago, and we both had solid life links to China. In our talks, I found ruth and I both loved so many things about The Middle Kingdom, the traditional medicines, the fabric designs, tea, the Tao de Ching, and China's long history.  

ruth adhered to Chinese horoscopes, which consist of twelve cyclical years based on animals. Born in 1928, Ruthie began life in the Dragon year, which also proved to be specifically an Earth-Dragon year. With each Chinese horoscope, comes a rotating element attached (earth, wood, fire, air, and metal). And ruth weiss embodied and protected Mama Earth throughout her long life. 

The idea of the Dragon delighted her, and I remember saying "little Dragon" to her as a greeting, getting back a beaming elfish grin in return. ruth self-learned a great deal about the meanings of the Chinese horoscope animals, how they worked together, or not. When questioned about my animal year – the Horse – she searched and found it a surprisingly good match. You see, the Dragon is a leader. And Dragon also loves to give orders and command attention but is up and ready for any adventure. My horse nature fit ruth's up-all-night energy and my love of freedom coupled with companionship and loyalty. Our compatibility seemed assured since her brilliance and vision became my goal and industry as Executive Producer of the film ruth weiss: The Beat Goddess. The film captured the essence of being with ruth; the chronicles of her life and times that never end.   

While the film documented ruth's extraordinary life journey, even more engaging is the conversational depth, playfulness, and creativity—the luxury she gave us to read her gifts: poetry and art to the world. 

The Little Dragon's spirit swirls and commands around the shores of Albion on the Mendocino coast. And just across the Pacific pond is China, always waiting for her arrival. "You know, she told me, between here and China it is all the same waters."  

Dr. Elisabeth Montgomery, ruth weiss, and Dr. Eugene Tssui