The William Saroyan House Museum, Fresno, CA Videos

Saroyan’s words have the POWER TO UNITE Armenians as a nation. He has always been convinced that the resilience lying within his nation can overcome challenges that may seem insurmountable⚡️ Listen to the most powerful quote of Saroyan and REGAIN YOUR STRENGTH from within!🇦🇲

Today we are also celebrating The William Saroyan House Museum's 4th anniversary! 🥳 Since 2018, Saroyan's breath and spirit have been an integral part of the museum. The museum has become one of the most important cultural assets of Fresno. Over 5000 visitors have walked through our doors since opening (during the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum was closed for a year). We proudly continue to work towards fulfilling our mission: to make William Saroyan’s name, legacy, and values universal, to collect Saroyan archives and to make them accessible, to preserve and enrich a multifunctional Museum, presenting Saroyan as a source of inspiration. ❤ #WilliamSaroyan #Saroyan #SaroyanHouse #museum #Saroyan114 #birthday #Fresno #celebration

Today, May 22, marks the birthday anniversary of legendary French-Armenian singer and songwriter Charles Aznavour. Did you know that in François Truffaut's film Shoot the Piano Player (1960) Charles Aznavour plays a concert pianist called Édouard Saroyan? Truffaut explained that he chose to use Saroyan as the character’s true name in the film because of his admiration for the Armenian-American writer William Saroyan, especially Saroyan’s work: Man on the Flying Trapeze. Later, in Atom Egoyan's film Ararat, Aznavour played the role of Edward Saroyan. His character's name was a reference to his much earlier starring role. A fragment of the film "Ararat" by Atom Egoyan (2002). #SaroyanHouse #WilliamSaroyan #Saroyan #CharlesAznavour #FrançoisTruffaut #AtomEgoyan #Ararat Aznavour Foundation

The last two paragraphs of "The Armenian and the Armenian," the final piece in Saroyan's second book, Inhale & Exhale, are the most quoted words on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. "I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose history is ended, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, whose literature is unread, whose music is unheard, whose prayers are no longer uttered. Go ahead, destroy this race. Let us say that it is again 1915. There is war in the world. Destroy Armenia. See if you can do it. Send them from their homes into the desert. Let them have neither bread nor water. Burn their houses and their churches. See if they will not live again. See if they will not laugh again. See if the race will not live again when two of them meet in a beer parlor, twenty years after, and laugh, and speak in their tongue. Go ahead, see if you can do anything about it. See if you can stop them from mocking the big ideas of the world, you sons of bitches, a couple of Armenians talking in the world, go ahead and try to destroy them." The first thing to notice here is the absence of the phrase "see if they will not create a New Armenia." These are words that Saroyan never wrote. The famous misquotation began from the 1982 poster and continues till today. The William Saroyan House Museum asks you this year in your words of remembrance and grief; to quote the original, powerful Saroyanesque paragraph. Read the full article https://saroyanhouse.com/single/news/39 credit: @aykterjimanian #WilliamSaroyan #Saroyan #SaroyanHouse #Armenia #Yerevan #Fresno #ArmenianGenocide #quotes #quote #ՎիլյամՍարոյան #Սարոյան

In the 16th Academy Awards, 1944, the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, William Saroyan won the Oscar for Best Story for the 1943 comedy-drama film The Human Comedy. 🏆 William Saroyan reportedly wrote his script in 18 days. M-G-M bought the 240-page script for approximately $60,000. Variety commented that Saroyan's "initial original screenplay is a brilliant sketch of the basic fundamentals of the American way of life, transferred to the screen with exceptional fidelity." To read the full story about Saroyan's Oscar win, follow the link 👇https://saroyanhouse.com/single/news/42 #WilliamSaroyan #Saroyan #SaroyanHouse #AcademyAwards #oscars #Oscar2022 #hollywood #story #humancomedy #MGM

Happy birthday Arno Babajanian! 🎉 William Saroyan once said about Arno Babajanian: "He was the first who called me in Armenian - Varpet (master). I answered him in the same way, and you know, he was not surprised and did not even dispute. And it's great that he didn't dispute it because a real Varpet should always know his own worth." The composer also wrote the famous jazz score to the 1961 Soviet Armenian stage adaptation of William Saroyan’s play My Heart’s in the Highlands. 🎼🎺 Video from a 1975 Soviet film "My Heart's in the Highlands" #WilliamSaroyan #Saroyan #SaroyanHouse #ArnoBabajanian #myheartsinthehighlands

"Christmas is being together - gathering together. It is the time of the heart's inventory. It is the time of going home in many ways. You do not have to tell a child what this means, and at Christmas, if at no other time, all men are children." William Saroyan It's only day until Christmas! <3 #WilliamSaroyan #SaroyanHouse #Saroyan #Christmas #daytillchristmas #christmasweek

"Christmas is tastes - the round, golden taste of the orange - the taste of the perfect sphere, which has hung among the green leaves in the warm sun. It is the red-and-white striped taste of peppermint. It is the sharp, sweet juice of the apple from the toe of the stocking. Many tastes must blend to make the taste of Christmas." William Saroyan It's only 2 days until Christmas! 🎄 #WilliamSaroyan #SaroyanHouse #Saroyan #Christmas #2daystillchristmas #christmasweek

"Christmas is sounds - the talking and the laughing, the shouting and the singing of childhood's hymns - the tinkling of the music box, which says "Hosanna" in the child's language of gladness, no matter if it is only saying, "This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes!" in English." William Saroyan It's only 3 days until Christmas! 🎄 #WilliamSaroyan #SaroyanHouse #Saroyan #Christmas #3daystillchristmas #christmasweek