On April 23, Arax will appear at the Barnes & Noble at the Americana to read from his book

Journalist Mark Arax to commemorate Armenian Genocide

18.04.2009 00:58 GMT+04:00

PanARMENIAN.Net

Author and journalist Mark Arax, whose new book "West of the West" is receiving high praise from literary critics, will be delivering the keynote address on April 24 in Glendale to commemorate the 1915-1918 Armenian Genocide.

On April 23, Arax will appear at the Barnes & Noble at the Americana to read from his new book, which is rich in Armenian themes, including the psychological toll of Turkey's continued refusal to admit to the crime of genocide. The next day, the former Los Angeles Times writer will gather with a throng of Armenians at the Alex Theater in Glendale to remember the 1.5 million victims of the Armenian Genocide, a crime that Turkey still refuses to recognize.

"I feel greatly honored to be asked by the city and the Armenian community to give this address," Arax said. "In a strange way, the Armenian Genocide, as a matter of history, is more alive today than it has ever been. Armenian political groups, writers, film makers and students are largely to credit. But ironically, it is Turkey's continued campaign of denial that has helped keep it very much alive."

Arax is considered one of the nation's finest journalists. For twenty years, his stories at the Los Angles Times exposed human rights abuses and official cover-up in California prisons and changed state laws that govern air quality and the treatment of farm workers in the fields.

Arax left the L.A. Times in 2007 after the paper's managing editor decided to censor his story on the denial of the Armenian Genocide. The editor said Arax could not write the story because he is an Armenian. After a public fight, in which tens of thousands of Armenians nationwide protested to the paper in letters and phone calls, Arax was forced to leave the Times. The managing editor who censored Arax's story was then fired.