WOMAN SHARES MEMORIES IN NEW BOOK
By Jenna Ciaramella
Torrington Register Citizen, CT
Jan 8 2007
KENT – A local woman shares the memories of her Armenian heritage in
her latest book about her grandmother.
After about four years of writing, Georgianne Ensign Kent announced
the publication of her self-published biography of her
Armenian grandmother entitled "Vartanoosh: My Grandmother’s Story"
in late December.
Born in Ridgefield, N.J., Kent graduated from Northwestern University’s
Medill School of Journalism,Illinois in 1961.
She said she’d always had a knack for "strange creative" interests
like art, drawing and singing, but non-fiction writing was always
her largest passion.
"I always, always wanted to write, especially about my own background
through my grandma and grandpa," Kent said.
The book Vartanoosh, meaning "sweet rose", is named after Kent’s
grandmother and traces her escape from Erzeroum, Armenia to Beirut
from the Turkish massacres in the 1890s.
Before Vartanoosh Sarkisian, nee Tarzian, died in the 1970s, Kent
said she was able to tape record all of her grandmother’s memories.
"I wanted to know about her memories," Kent said. "I had 275 single
spaced pages typed out (of memories) and that formed the basis of
the book."
Kent said she learned that her grandmother and grandmother’s brother
were hidden in saddle bags during the escape, and Sarkisian was later
placed in a in an Episcopal home for "half-orphans" for children with
one parent.
It was there that Sarkisian was taught how to speak English, American
customs and hygiene, Kent said.
"That is the luckiest thing that could have ever happened to my
grandmother," Kent said.
Later on in Sarkisian’s life, she met Thomas Edison and used to wash
his clothes, which were covered in wax, during the time he was working
on sonographic records using wax cylinders, Kent said.
"She used to tell me, ‘a white-haired man in front of my eyes, honest
to god,’" Kent said. "The things she saw were just very interesting."
Kent also has some interesting stories of her own.
She said that while in junior high school the students were required
to write a book report on Jack London’s "Call of the Wild."
The teacher had made an announcement using Kent’s report as an example
of how someone did not read the book, but copied it from a flyleaf.
"I had read it and I had written it," Kent said. "The other kids were
saying she can write, she can write, and the teacher apologized. I
think that was a strong indication that I sounded like I could write
much too professional at that time."
Kent has published three other non-fiction books, including a young
adult’s book "The Hunt for the Mastodon," about the excavation of a
mastodon in Hackensack, N.J. by the American Museum of Natural History;
"Great Beginnings: Opening Lines of Great Novels"; and "Great Endings:
Closing Lines of Great Novels."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
