Join us for the sixth installment of Literary Lights 2026 featuring Aram Saroyan, author of the critically acclaimed memoir Before I Forget, in conversation with Shahé Mankerian, the 2026–2028 Altadena Poet Laureate Editor-in-Chief.
In Before I Forget: A Memoir (and Then Some), Aram Saroyan remembers his beginnings in Manhattan, Los Angeles, London, and Bolinas. The son of the beloved author William Saroyan and step-son of Walter Matthau, he probes the fallout of his father and mother’s broken marriage and lessons gleaned in their wake.
Saroyan paints a series of scenarios that impacted his life: An eight-year-old is cast out on the comic sea of Beverly Hills in the fifties. A young man encounters fame working with photographer Richard Avedon and a revolving list of models, including Marilyn Monroe. A journey to nurture his own authentic, original literary voice finds love and support when least expected, balancing the prickle of critical controversy. Here is a multi-faceted artist’s valedictory.
The book includes 20 rare photos from the author’s personal archive and two narrative novellas that frame Saroyan’s life in literature with imaginative reflections and sharp emotional insight.