Item 124 - General Views

Jack Chiang, a prominent Kingston photographer, was born on 20 March 1950 in a village near Canton, China. The Chiang family left China at the time of the Communist takeover; going first to Macau, a Portuguese colony, and then to the British colony of Hong Kong. Although his family was extremely poor, Mr. Chiang was able to finish high school and then, with the help of scholarships, attend university. He pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree at the National Taiwan University, where he studied foreign languages and literature, particularly French and English. After receiving his degree in 1972, Jack Chiang was granted a research assistantship in order to pursue his Masters in journalism at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

After immigrating to Canada in 1974, Mr. Chiang began work as a reporter, in 1975, for the “Orillia Packet and Times”. In November 1977, he became a photographer for the “Kingston Whig-Standard”, the daily for which Chiang has worked ever since. Over the course of his career at the “Whig-Standard”, Mr. Chiang has worked as both a photographer and a reporter, both at home and abroad. Since 1980, he has been the Picture Editor for the newspaper and has held other managerial positions, including City Editor, Region Editor and Sports Editor, simultaneous to it.

Mr. Chiang has won more than two dozen awards for his photography, including Canadian Press Picture of the Month and Ontario News Photographers’ Association Picture of the Year (News and Sports) as well as their Picture of the Month. His pictures have appeared in the “New York Times”, the “Christian Science Monitor”, “Moscow News” and “Reader’s Digest” as well as every major newspaper in Canada. As well, the cover photographs for both editions of “Images of Kingston” were selected to hang in the front lobby of Kodak Canada head office in Toronto. In 1990, the first edition of Mr. Chiang’s “Images of Kingston” was published. The second edition followed eight years later. In addition, Chiang’s photography has appeared in a number of other books.

Active in a number of community fundraising campaigns, Mr. Chiang has been involved with the annual Easter Seals Telethon, as an on-air host; the Community Foundation of Greater Kingston; and the Boys and Girls Club. Since 1995, he has been the honorary chairman of the annual Salvation Army Hamper campaign. In 1999, he was the honorary co-chairman of the United Way campaign and in 2000, the honorary chairman of the Save the Kingston Exhibition campaign. Jack Chiang is also the founder and president of the National Association for the Easily Amused, an organization for those who think laughter is the best medicine.

In 1977, Jack Chiang married his first wife Larraine Mullen. They have two sons: Jeffrey, born in 1984, and Christopher, born in 1987. The marriage ended in 1989. In August 1996, he married Catherine Lincoln.

Catherine Diane Lincoln, a Kingston teacher and principal, was born on 31 May 1950 in Shawinigan, Quebec. She is the eldest child of Donald and Anna Lincoln. In 1966, she moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario, to live with her aunt and finish high school. She graduated from A.N. Myer Secondary School in 1969. Ms. Lincoln-Chiang received her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education from Queen’s University in 1976 and 1977 respectively. She taught in Orangeville before moving back to Kingston with her two sons, Adrian and Alastair, in 1981. For the next five years, she taught for the Frontenac County Board of Education and then starting in 1986 she worked as a consultant for French as a Second Language with the Board for two years. Following this, Ms. Lincoln-Chiang became the Vice Principal of Polson Park Public School, Kingston. The next year, she was promoted to Principal of the same school. Ms. Lincoln-Chiang is currently the Principal of Central Public School, Kingston. Ms. Lincoln-Chiang regularly accompanies and aids Jack on his photographic expeditions to various part of the country.