Alex Manoogian: In Memoriam

by Lisa Boghosian PapasPeter Pan would feel right at home on Sarkis and Haig Sahatdjian's Victor Farm in Madera, California.... if there were wild horses roaming through beds of sunflowers; enchanting candlelit dinners amidst rolling green hills; or children in overalls indulging in bucolic pastimes, such as picking grapes from the vines or fetching milk from the cows at sunrise.

by Lisa Boghosian Papas From inside the car, you could see in the distance the miles of acres located on the southeast corner of North and Indianola Avenues in Fresno County, California. Running north and south, Indianola Avenue road, really just a dusty country blacktop, extends in one direction into acres of scenic vineyards, and in the other, to the well-kept houses of Sanger built in the early 1930s.

by David ZenianGasper Magarian could have retired 30 years ago. He did not, and still has no intention to stop doing what he loves most - practicing law as he has for the past 70 years.In 1995, there were 118,574 active lawyers on the State Bar of California, including 1,346 who were over the age of 75. At 97, Magarian is the oldest active member of the State Bar, and the oldest son of an Armenian farmer who arrived in Massachusetts penniless 100 years ago to escape Ottoman Turkish persecution.

by William SaroyanWell, I was born there, if that helps, for birth is into the world, into the unresolved and unresolvable universe, into the entire dynamic mystery of living matter, and not into a town. Still, one soon hears about the specific place of beginning, even if one is no longer there or the place has changed, and so it must mean something to know where one was born.One even knows the street, sometimes even the house.

by David ZenianDoug Davidian is not a farmer, and neither was his father-both products of the changing trends in the Armenian community of Fresno County, the number one producer of agricultural products in the United States.Unlike the early pioneers, Davidian's generation started leaning more toward education, science, technology, medicine, business and other professions."When my grandfather lost all his land in the Depression, my father became a television repairman. He made some good investments and retired at the age of 48," Davidian said.

by David ZenianThe official biography of Deran Koligian, Chairman of the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, sums up his occupation in two words: Family Farmer. The description is not accidental. His deep attachment to the land and Armenian family values sets Koligian apart from politicians who are normally associated with similar positions in government.

by David ZenianA lot has changed since the first Armenians began settling in Fresno 115 years ago. It has lost some of its old country luster, but when it comes to name recognition, it remains one of the few cities around the world solidly associated with the Armenian Diaspora.In the Middle East, the small farming communities of Anjar in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, and Kessab above Syria's Mediterranean coast are often called "Little Armenia". In the United States, Fresno fits the same description.

by David ZenianBack in 1876 when Alexander G. Bell was busy inventing the telephone, a young Armenian by the name of Mardiros (Yanukian) Normart had just returned back to the east coast from Fresno, a dusty western railroad town rich in farmlands, vast prairies and little else to keep him there.

by William SaroyanA story about Fresno Armenians would not be complete without an article about one of the world's most famous Armenian authors and playwrights-William Saroyan. Unlike other stories which tell about his accomplishments and history, this narrative gives a more intimate portrayal of Saroyan via letters written to his life-long Fresno friends Yep Moradian and his wife Roxie.January, 1, 1929,Mills Hotel No. 3,161 W 36th Street, New York, NY.(This letter was never sent to Yep)Dear Yep, old boy-

by Lisa Boghosian Papas

by Lisa Boghosian Papas Bill and Yep grew up across the street from one another in Fresno. Bill grew up to be the noted playwright William Saroyan; Yep, known later as Frank Moradian, became a successful grain merchant and president of the Penny-Newman Grain Company. Their friendship lasted from their jazz-age childhoods to Saroyan's death in 1981, a period of over 60 years.