--- title: America's Top Fortune Cookie Writer Is Quitting Because of Writer's Block description: Donald Lau has been a "Chief Fortune Writer" at Wonton Foods for 30 years. Now, he's stepping down. Why? He's got writer's block. authors: - name: Kristen Bahler role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/ bio: Kristen Bahler has spent more than a decade turning culture, work and consumer spending trends into conversation-driving stories. Today, she leads Money's sponsored content channel and reader-favorite franchises like Best Places to Live and Best Places to Travel. education: Northeastern University, MA Journalism at_money_since: 2016 articles: 52 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristen-bahler/ published: '2017-02-03T18:33:37.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T05:08:46.000Z' section: Lifestyle word_count: 295 canonical: https://money.com/fortune-cookie-writer/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![fortune cookies on pink background](https://img.money.com/2017/02/170203_fortunecookies1.jpg) The man who's been delivering us inspiring fortunes for 30 years is nearly out of ideas. For 30 years, Donald Lau has served as "Chief Fortune Writer" at Wonton Foods, which bills itself as the largest manufacturer of fortune cookies, noodles, and other Chinese staples. Now, he's stepping down. Why? He's got writer's block. "I used to write 100 a year, but I've only written two or three a month over the past year," Lau recently told [*Time*](https://time.com/4645242/chinese-lunar-new-year-rooster-2017-chief-fortune-writer-wonton-food-cookie-factory/). In the '80s, when Lau first landed the role at the Queens and Brooklyn-based company, cookie fortunes were, well, fortuitous (think: "A dream you have will come true"). But today, he says, the premium is on new, inspirational sayings that promote Yogi tea bag-style well-being. The pressure has led Lau to hand his soothsaying responsibilities to another employee: James Wong, a nephew of the company's founder. Lau will continue to serve as Wonton Food's Chief Financial Officer. *Time* writes: > The company has explored fortune-writing contests and soliciting fortunes online, and they also keep track of diner reactions. A run of [brutally honest fortunes](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/business/smallbusiness/08fortune.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1191861585-rM9TafURk8C7IvFe9FwGxQ) about a decade ago didn't go over well, and authorities [briefly investigated](http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20050512thursday.html) the company in 2005, after 110 Powerball lottery players won about $19 million after using the "lucky numbers" on the back of fortunes. Once a jilted wife wrote in to complain that her husband had gotten a fortune promising him romance on his next business trip, and a satisfied customer wrote to say he got a new job after reading a fortune about a new opportunity coming his way. > > "When they eat their fortune cookie, I want the customers to open the fortune, read it, maybe laugh, and leave the restaurant happy," \[Lau\] says, "so that they come back again next week." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/fortune-cookie-writer/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Art and Culture", "item": "https://money.com/art-and-culture/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "America's Top Fortune Cookie Writer Is Quitting Because of Writer's Block" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/fortune-cookie-writer/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/fortune-cookie-writer/", "name": "America's Top Fortune Cookie Writer Is Quitting Because of Writer's Block", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2017-02-03T18:33:37.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/fortune-cookie-writer/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/fortune-cookie-writer/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T05:08:46.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "America's Top Fortune Cookie Writer Is Quitting Because of Writer's Block", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2017/02/170203_fortunecookies1.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1425, "caption": "170203_fortunecookies1" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kristen Bahler", "url": "https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/#author", "description": "Kristen Bahler has spent more than a decade turning culture, work and consumer spending trends into conversation-driving stories. 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