Armenian Remembrance

Yesterday was Armenian Remembrance Day. The Ottoman Turks (and post-Ottomans) attempted to wipe out their large Armenian population before during and after the First World War. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians perished. Today, Armenians thrive in the United States, France, Armenia and elsewhere. If a person's family name ends in -ian, -jan or -yan, there's a good chance he or she is of Armenian descent. Jack Kevorkian, for instance; and Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian). The writer William Saroyan. Let's not forget Mannix (Chuck Connors, real name Krekor Ohanian -- now 84, by the way). And so on.

A couple of good books on the Armenian Genocide: G.S. Graber's Caravans to Oblivion: The Armenian Genocide, 1915 (1996) and Peter Balakian's The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response (2003).

Today's Rune: Strength.