Nien Cheng died on November 2.  She is one of my heroes.  She spent almost seven years in one of Mao's prisons for the crimes of having worked for Shell, studied abroad, and speaking fluent English.

Nien Cheng

While she was in prison, her only child was murdered by the Red Guards for refusing to denounce Cheng.  She survived horrifying conditions with wit and anger, and, according to her memoir, Life and Death in Shanghai, poetry.  She had memorized a great deal of classical Chinese poetry...