When Duncan Law was a baby, his aunt and his single mother launched their beauty parlor by serving as beauticians to Astoria’s bordellos. He worked his way through school in Astoria’s canneries under the old Chinese Contract Labor system. The Chinese lived at the cannery bunk house, and in the cannery dorms he learned that bedbugs can be quite resourceful. His story gives us a window into life in Astoria in the 20s and 30s and the special hardships faced by the Chinese. After college Duncan Law spent 44 years at Astoria’s Seafood Lab where his discoveries aided the Oregon fishing industry and made hatcheries viable on the Columbia River.
