Ricky Lee - Early Life

Early Life

Lee grew up with his relatives in Daet, Camarines Norte. His mother died when he was 5 years old and only saw his father on few occasions. He studied primary and secondary school in the same town. It was said that Lee often sneaks into movie houses and bury himself in books at the school library, tearing away pages with striking images. An intelligent student, he consistently topped his class from grade school on to high school. His promising writing career took a first step when he won his first national literary award for a short story he wrote when he was still in high school. Driven by his passion to pursue dreams, he ran away from home and took a bus to Manila. He roamed the streets, taking on menial tasks as a waiter during the day and asking his town mates to accommodate him during the night until he collapsed one day in Avenida out of hunger.

He was accepted at University of the Philippines-Diliman as an AB English Major but never got his diploma from U.P. where, ironically enough, he later taught script writing at its College of Mass Communication. He became an activist during those politically turbulent times and was affiliated with Panulat para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan (PAKSA, or Pen for People's Progress) along with Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera and Jose F. Lacaba. He lived as a fugitive during the Martial Law years and was later incarcerated. All these experiences would prove to be a wealthy source of inspiration from which to draw his stories and characters.