A writer and labor organizer, Bulosan immigrated from the Philippines to Seattle in 1930 at age 17, with little money, little formal education, or knowledge of English. He worked low-paying jobs in hotels, fields, and Alaskan canneries, facing racist attacks and unhealthy conditions that led him to develop tuberculosis and spend two years hospitalized—during which he read and wrote constantly. His most famous book, America Is in the Heart, gave voice to the struggles of Filipino immigrants in America.