Title: In my father's name
First published: 1996
Description: On January 2, 1972, Mark Arax's childhood came to a sudden, explosive end when his father was shot to death at his nightclub in Fresno, California. It was one of the most sensational murders in California's heartland, and it was never solved. Mark, only fifteen years old at the time, was left with a legacy of questions: Were the rumors about his father true? Had he led a double life? Was he killed because of his dealings with the underworld?

Mark Arax, an award-winning journalist at the Los Angeles Times, now writes a searing, intensely personal account of his twenty-two-year search for answers about his father's life and death, and his own identity.

As the oldest child, Mark was thrust into the role of patriarch. His quest for answers began in high school, when he sought out his father's father, an Armenian immigrant. His grandfather opened a window into an old country world full of promise and heartbreak - and four generations of eccentric family members.

Two decades later, Mark uprooted his wife and baby and returned to Fresno under and assumed name to try and determine who killed his father and why. Fearing for his own life, he discovers his father was murdered just before he was going to make a startling disclosure.
Subjects: Murder, Armenian Americans, Biography, Case studies, Murder, california, Fathers and sons, New York Times reviewed
Places: California, Fresno
People: Ara Arax (1931-1972)