Bound to honor its favorite son

Saroyan's lasting presence can be felt in subtle ways around Fresno. There's a theater named after him, and a statue of Saroyan sits on the Cal State Fresno campus. But it speaks to the neglect of the writer's legacy that the statue was a decrepit relic that sat on a mound of dirt in downtown Fresno, until it was donated to the university seven years ago.

There are many Fresno natives who knew Saroyan personally. For many years the owner of a clothing store, Balakian would often share a cup of coffee in his store with the author when he was in town (Balakian's late cousin Nona, a former editor at the New York Times, wrote an acclaimed biography of Saroyan in 1989). "He had traveled the world, and so he always had wonderful stories," Larry Balakian said. "But, ultimately, he came back to live in Fresno."

Those who knew Saroyan professionally remember him as prickly and combative. He often got into scrapes with editors and movie executives, railing about the evils of the publishing and movie businesses to anyone who would listen. "The Human Comedy," in fact, was originally commissioned as a screenplay for Louis B. Mayer at MGM. When Saroyan bristled at Mayer's notes for the script, the writer reclaimed his material and turned it into a novel.

"Bill made a lot of enemies," said Gifford, who worked with Saroyan near the end of his life. "One time, he just signed a book contract sight unseen, to show what a trusting soul he was. Well, he later complained constantly about that contract. He had a kind of perverse way of dealing with the world."

Whatever Saroyan's flaws, the centennial's organizers wanted to pay tribute to a man who had a deep connection with his native city. Like many of the volunteers for the centennial festival, Balakian feels a strong civic kinship with Saroyan's work. "He is the poet of the San Joaquin Valley," Balakian said.

Though his work is rooted in Central California, Saroyan's themes of human suffering and redemption are universal, and his loyalists would like his best work to find the audience they think it deserves. "Saroyan wasn't a modernist, but he was a great storyteller," Balakian said. "It's a shame he's semi-forgotten."