William Saroyan

Biography

William Saroyan (August 31, 1908 - May 18, 1981) was an American author who wrote many plays and short stories about growing up impoverished as the son of Armenian immigrants. These stories were popular during the Great Depression. Saroyan grew up in Fresno, the center of Armenian-Americans in California, where many of his works are set (although he sometimes gave the city a fictional name).

Asked how to say his name, he told The Literary Digest "In Armenian it is sor-row'yan, accent on row. In America it is mispronounced with... 'roy.'" (Charles Earle Funk, What's the Name, Please?, Funk & Wagnalls, 1936.)

Source:
Wikipedia contributors, "William Saroyan," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William Saroyan&oldid=105014978 (accessed February 13, 2007). [Read More...]

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