Former Ballard News-Tribune reporter, Dean Wong, will be honored with the International Examiner's lifetime achievement award.

Since 1991, the International Examiner has recognized outstanding leaders and unsung heroes in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

A life-long community photo-journalist, Wong is being recognized for actively working towards uplifting and raising awareness of the local API community.

"I've always felt my role as a journalist was to help the community in any way that I can," Wong said.

His work has been much appreciated by the community and during his eight years at the Ballard News-Tribune, Wong's work was recognized by the Lions Club, Ballard Elks and Ballard High School.

Wong is currently working on a novel totled "Little Three Grand", a crime novel which takes place in Seattle’s Chinatown in 1965, a period in which illegal gambling was tolerated because police took bribes to look the other way.

The main character is Danny, a street wise 20-year-old who works at his mother’s hand laundry and his father’s restaurant, and decides to get out from under his parent’s wings and asks his best adult friend for a job driving a taxi. In his job, Danny runs into various interesting characters that play a role in moving the plot forward and teach him about life in Chinatown.

In addition to his novel, Wong said he is also in the process of submitting a proposal to the UW press on another book, an anthology of his journalism writing combined with his fine art photographs.

Wong and fellow honorees -- Julie Pham, Gloria Lung Wakayama, Pramila Jayapal and Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church -- will be honored at the Community Voice Awards on May 16, 2012 at the Tea Palace Restaurant in Renton.

For more information, sponsorship and tickets, please contact Dawn Rego, Event Coordinator, at CVAevents@gmail.com or 206.624.3925