Ellen Chesnut
From the killing fields of Marash, Turkey, in 1920 to America and from the dustbowl in Amarillo, Tex., to California in 1935, We Armenians Survived! Battle of Marash 1920 and Written Works of Glen Chesnut both tell remarkable stories.
The first book relates the tale of immigration to America by a people besieged by a government bent on their extermination.
The second written by my late husband weaves the narrative of Americans leaving a parched homeland in Texas to literally greener pastures in California.
I am very proud of being able to tell the story of my mother’s family and the Armenians of Marash, Turkey by sharing the experiences of eight Armenians who made it through the blood bath of Marash where thousands were torched in their churches.
The author of The Media Monopoly, Ben Bagdikian, was newly born when his family trekked out of Marash in one of the worst blizzards in memory following behind the retreating French soldiers many of whom were black Senegalese.
Dicran Berberian, at 17 years of age, learned of the murder of his immediate family and others by none other than one of the perpetrators who happened also to be his next door neighbor, a Turk, who proudly showed Berberian his father’s pocket watch.
Berberian would later become the codiscoverer of plaquenil, an anti-Malaria drug now known as hydroxychloroquine.
Glen, my husband of 45 years, was the youngest son of Sam and Ulta Chesnut and had a remarkable story as well. Coming from a ranching family, he quit high school in Tehachapi, Cal., for one year to work as a cowboy.
In later years he would become a merchant seaman and ship out of San Francisco, when it was a great port city, and then out of Oakland. Glen was a self-taught artist and a writer. Written Works features some of his best flash fiction, poetry and short stories.
I invite you to visit his website to read more of his works not in the book, don’t miss the art gallery of his paintings and multi-media works and the photo gallery of pictures Glen took while stationed in Germany in the early 1950s.
Go to https://glenchesnut.com to learn more. Glen’s book can be ordered through Amazon in both an eBook and a paperback version and at bookstores.
We Armenians Survived can be ordered at Abril Bookstore and through Amazon in both eBook and paperback versions.
Abril Bookstore: (818) 243-4112. www.abrilbooks.com. All proceeds from book sales have been going to and will continue to go to Armenian charities.
