When teacher Alice Stern says that she grew up “hearing” Mah Jongg, everyone whose mom had a weekly game knows exactly what she means – the soothing clack of Mah Jongg tiles being shuffled as their mom and her weekly group prepared for their next game.  Of course, there was also the babble of gossip and ringing laughter as they took a break for snacks or lunch.  

    Stern thought that she would never play Mah Jongg, and yet here she is, 16 years into being a Mah Jongg teacher and still going strong. For the uninitiated, Mah Jongg is an old Chinese game played with beautiful thick tiles in suits like playing cards.
 
    Stern doesn’t just teach Mah Jongg, she has written a book called “No Jokers in a Pair,” which is intended as a guide for other teachers of the game.  All of the proceeds from Stern’s teaching and her book are donated to the Assistance League of Diablo Valley (ALDV).
 
    Over the past 16 years, she has donated over $15,000 and continues to donate. All of the money from her book sales also goes to the ALDV scholarship fund.  Her book is available at Vintage Vida, located two doors down from Postino restaurant on Mt. Diablo Boulevard.  Another Lafayette store, Venture Quality Goods sells Mah Jongg sets designed by one of Stern’s former students. 

    Mah Jongg grew popular in the U.S. in the 1920s, becoming a cultural phenomenon, especially among women. The National Mah Jongg League (NMJL) formed in 1937 to standardize rules for American Mah Jongg, introducing unique elements like jokers, racks, and yearly changing hands.

    In 2010 Stern joined the ALDV, which operates the Way Side Inn Thrift Shop near the Lafayette Theater. Her neighbor kept asking her to join, so she finally went to her first meeting. At one of the early meetings, someone asked if she knew anyone who plays Mah Jongg?  Stern began teaching women from ALDV who were interested.  

    She went to the Lafayette Community Center and said she’d like to teach Mah Jongg there. She was asked by the Recreation Supervisor John Warshaw, “How do I know you’d be any good?”  Stern laughed as she recounted the story. “I gave him a stern look, and asked him, what is Mah Jongg?” On the first day of registration, Warshaw called and said, “I am so sorry I doubted you.” Her class had sold out in the first hour after registration opened. She went on to teach about three years of Mah Jongg classes there, consisting of four lessons, each three hours long.  

    After three years, Stern decided she didn’t want to teach at the Community Center any longer. Now she plays there instead, every Tuesday. “As far as I was concerned, I thought I was done,” she reported. 
 
    Two months later, a former student called and said she had six friends who wanted to learn MJ. And so, Stern began offering private lessons to six students at a time. She started at a cost of $50 for the series of four classes, which later grew to $75 and is now at $150, with all proceeds donated to the ALDV.

    By December 2025 Stern had taught upwards of 250 students, and loves doing it. She loves meeting new people and sharing the game. Stern says that most of her students are in their 50s. 

    Two months ago, Stern decided to write a book to teach Mah Jongg teachers. She kept hearing that students were taking classes in Mah Jongg, but they weren’t learning. Recognizing that she is coming close to the end of her teaching days, she wanted to get her method down in writing. 
 
    “Maybe one day my granddaughters will want to learn,” she speculated. She has already taught her 12-year-old granddaughter to play. That granddaughter is the child of her son Todd Stern, a wildfire safety ambassador in Moraga and Orinda.  Stern also has a daughter, Andrea, who lives in Westchester New York.
    Three years ago, she was teaching a group, and one woman in the group was named Kara, who turned out to be the daughter of a woman artist Stern knew when her children were in Lafayette schools. Kara’s mother’s name was Gail Overaa, said Stern, and she recalled that Gail’s husband ran C. Overaa & Co. – a construction company now working on the Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area and the Park Theater restoration, both projects in Lafayette. 

    “Kara now works for the family business, doing the marketing. She has the artistic talent of her mother,” Stern continued, “and she couldn’t stop thinking about designing her own set [of tiles].” 

    Mah Jongg tiles had been the same since their invention in China in the 1880s. Overaa has now designed three different sets of tiles with modern designs suitable for use for either American or Chinese Mah Jongg games.  

    Her tiles, plus other accessories she has designed, are available for purchase on her website, fourfriendsmahjong.com with 10% of all proceeds donated to charity. You can also find Stern’s books and the “Ask Alice” feature on the website, where visitors can find answers to Mah Jongg questions. Stern can be reach by email at Nojokersmahjongg@gmail.com