Author William Saroyan, 72, dies of cancer
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Wil
liam Saroyan, the writer who
tried “to express the in
dividuality of people” in such
works as the Pulitzer
Prize-winning play "The Time of
Your Life” and the novel “The
Human Comedy/’ died of
cancer Monday. He was 72.
Saroyan's death at the
Veterans Administration Hospi
tal was announced by his phy
sician, Dr. Robert Aduan.
Funeral arrangements were
pending.
Five days before he collapsed
at his home here and was ho
spitalized April 20, Saroyan
called The Associated Press to
report that cancer had spread to
several organs and that he was
dying.
He then gave this final
statement for publication after
his death:
“Everybody has got to die,
but I have always believed an
exception would be made in my
case. Now what?”
Saroyan’s stories told of the
wonders experienced by Arme
nian boys, often himself,
growing up in America. "The
Human Comedy,” his most
famous novel, gave this sample
of his philosophy toward
humanity:
"Every man in the world is
better than someone else. And
not as good as someone else.”
Saroyan began writing in
Fresno at age 17. In his early
20s, he moved to San Franci
sco, where he wrote many of his
major works.
He became famous in 1934, at
age 26, by winning the O Henry
Award for his first major short
Image
Continued from Page 8
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new structure is,” Lobisser says. "Having the
artificial structure — peers, people who are cre
dible — it’s critical. The New Student Host Pro
gram is unique in that sense in providing peer
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The NSHP, like the administration-advised
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NSHP works to convince incoming freshmen that
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li ... ~
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Members staff the University's county fair
booths, in part to show Oregonians that University
students are civilized again, admits adviser Mary
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tions, including U of O Preview, the admissions
office’s "open house" for prospective students.
Not that they’re mere lackeys for the admin
istration — SURC helped the ASUO organize the
recent student rally at the Legislature
story, “The Daring Young Man
On The Flying Trapeze.’’
It was the product of a period
when Saroyan turned out a
short story daily for a month,
refining his philosophy that
"Speed and brevity is the point
out of which comes unified
work.’’
‘Everybody has got
to die, but I have al
ways believed an
exception would be
made in my case.
Now what?’
His prime example of speed
was "The Time Of Your Life,”
the 1940 Pulitzer Prize play
which he wrote in six days. Sa
royan rejected the $1,500 prize
because he didn’t think the arts
should be patronized by wealth
or commerce.
He once described his writing
as an attempt “to express the
individuality of people. Each
one is a distinctly separate
person. He of she may be intel
lectual or ignorant, rich or poor
in the eyes of others, but each is
noble. Each is entitled to hap
piness.”
Saroyan wrote daily all his life,
but his greatest fame came for
his writings during the Great
Depression and World War II.
He was regarded as a recluse
during his latter years and ad
mitted to avoiding all but a few
close friends on the premise
that a writer needs solitude to
create.
Born in Fresno on Aug. 31,
1908, Saroyan said he ' did
time” in an orphanage at age 3
after his father died. His mother
later was able to bring the family
together again.
He married an 18-year-old
New York actress, Carol
Marcus, in 1943. They were
divorced six years later, remar
ried in 1951 and divorced again
the next year.
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