Armenians
THEIR GROUNDBREAKING CONTRIBUTIONS REFLECT A LEGACY OF INNOVATION THAT CONTINUES TO INSPIRE FUTURE GENERATIONS
Mark Arax
Journalist, Author, Teacher
Bio
Marx Arax’s writings have been compared to the great social portraits of Joan Didion and William Saroyan.
With degrees from Fresno State University and Columbia, Arax became an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times, for which he wrote for 20 years, until 2007.
His stories revealing state-sanctioned murder and cover-up in California prisons were praised by The Nation as “one of the great journalistic achievements of the decade” [the 1990s]. Arax’s stories also helped change state laws on air quality and the treatment of farm workers in the field.
Born and raised in Fresno, California, Arax has written three highly regarded books and numerous stories about life and death in California’s heartland.
His books include In My Father’s Name; the bestselling The King of California (co-authored with Rick Wartzman), which was named one of the top ten books of the year (2005) by the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle; and the collection of stories titled West of the West: Dreamers, Believers, Builders and Killers in the Golden State.
Arax has taught literary nonfiction at Claremont McKenna College and Fresno State University and served as a senior policy director for the California Senate majority leader.