FresnoStateNews.com
March 4, 2005
Contact: Shirley Melikian Armbruster
(559) 278-5292 or (559) 593-1815

Author Markar Melkonian to Discuss
`My Brother’s Road’ on March 15

The Armenian Studies Program Spring Lecture Series will feature author
Markar Melkonian on Tuesday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Melkonian will discuss his new book, “My Brother’s Road: An American’s
Fateful Journey to Armenia” in his speech in Industrial Technology Building,
room 101, at the corner of Barstow and Campus Drive at California State
University, Fresno. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

`My Brother’s Road’ is the story of Melkonian’s brother, Armenian national
hero Monte Melkonian. Born in the San Joaquin Valley, Monte Melkonian grew
up to become a promising archaeologist, witness to revolution in Iran,
militiaman in the streets of Beirut, guerrilla in southern Lebanon, prison
strike leader in France and commander of 4,000 fighters in the Karabagh War
in the last days of the former Soviet Union.

As Monte Melkonian’s comrade and sometimes-critic, Markar Melkonian shared
the dangers and hopes of the road for a while with his brother. `My
Brother’s Road’ is the product of eight years of research and writing and
draws from hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents in four
languages on three continents.

Markar Melkonian is a third generation Californian, a teacher, writer and
veteran solidarity worker. He holds several graduate degrees, including a
Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Melkonian’s books include `Marxism: A Post-Cold War Primer’ and `Richard
Rorty’s Politics: Liberalism at the End of the American Century.’

Markar Melkonian is founder and a director of The Monte Melkonian Fund,
Inc., a nonprofit organization that assists the needy in the impoverished
former Soviet Republic of Armenia.

The lecture is co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program and the Armenian
Students Organization. Relaxed parking will be available in Lots Q, K, and L
after 7 p.m. For more information, please contact the Armenian Studies
Program at (559) 278-2669.