Solid ground; SEAC leader's arrival story inspires.

COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION

One thing certain about a city rich with immigrants is that it's rich in interesting stories.

Thuha Le's true tale is one of danger, courage, and the precarious edge of fortune.

For eight years she's been the executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts, but her arrival in Worcester from Vietnam a couple of decades ago involves a harrowing escape on a tiny fishing boat. In one sense, Mrs. Le, her husband, her three children and 16 other refugees, were saved by their very inconsequence from being drowned by the thrashing sea.

The lightweight boat, whose engine had stopped working, rode huge swells in the ocean "like a leaf floating in water," describes Mrs. Le.

When it comes to the ocean, going unnoticed is a good thing. "The leaf is so small and so light that it just moves with the water. That's what our boat was like in the ocean. If our boat was bigger we would have flipped over," she said in an interview published in yesterday's Telegram & Gazette.

Somehow the roofless, 15-foot fishing boat landed in Thailand after five days, and that began the family's twisted path to the safe harbor of Worcester.

Now, she is embarking on a new adventure in the city she has grown to love. Mrs. Le is resigning her...