Attorney Matthew Karanian will present a photographic slide show and author talk about his latest book, ‘Armenia and Karabakh: The Stone Garden Travel Guide,’ on June 5, 2013, at the Glendale Public Library, in Glendale, Calif.
The presentation will feature a slide show of stunning photography from Armenia and Artsakh. Karanian will tell the story of how he and co-author Robert Kurkjian created Armenia’s first travel guide more than a decade ago, and how that guide has grown and evolved through three editions to become the award-winning book that was recently released.
Karanian says they created the book to introduce Armenia to Armenians and non-Armenians alike who might otherwise not be familiar with the country or who might be intimidated about traveling to such a distant and unfamiliar land.
“The beauty of Armenia never ceases to amaze me,” Karanian says. “I want to do what I can to help share it with as many people as possible.”
This latest book was released in February, and was featured in an April 28 story in the Los Angeles Times, which included an interview with Karanian. The Times tells the story of how Karanian had a “wild idea” to travel to Armenia in 1995, and described the book that ultimately resulted as “a fresh view on ancient Armenia.”
This book ‘Armenia and Karabakh: The Stone Garden Travel Guide’ is now the top-selling Armenia title in bookstores and on Amazon.com. It is also available directly from the publisher for $30 post paid.
‘Armenia and Karabakh’ is a comprehensive 320-page guide book, and features 150 color photographs and 30 detailed color maps. One of the maps is an antique map of historic Armenia as it existed just prior to the Genocide. This map was created in 1928 by Mardiros Kheranyan, the great uncle of Matthew Karanian. The publication of the map in this book marks the first time the map has ever been published. Karanian dedicated the book to his parents, Henry and Agnes Karanian, who are both the children of Genocide survivors.
Karanian and Kurkjian founded Stone Garden Productions, the company that publishes the Armenia guide book, in 1999. During the past 15 years, their company has published five books about Armenia, as well as numerous illustrated stories for high-circulation magazines such as CNN Traveller, Photo Life, and Frommer’s Budget Travel, and thousands of photographs depicting Armenia and Artsakh.
