Hiag Akmakjian facts for kids
Hiag Akmakjian (born July 17, 1926 – died January 10, 2017) was an American writer, painter, and photographer. He wrote many books, including ones about raising children and poetry. He also worked as an editor and studied psychology.
Contents
Hiag Akmakjian's Life Story
Hiag Akmakjian was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He grew up during a tough time called the Great Depression. His parents, Ervant and Vartanoush Akmakjian, came to America as refugees from the Armenian genocide.
After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he went to Columbia University and graduated in 1948. Then, he moved to France. He studied at the Sorbonne using a special program for soldiers called the G.I. Bill. At the same time, he also went to an art school in Paris called Académie de la Grande Chaumière.
When he came back to America in the early 1950s, Akmakjian tried to be a painter. He painted in a style called abstract expressionism, which uses shapes and colors that don't look like real things. But he soon got tired of the art world and started studying photography instead. He also studied psychoanalysis, which is a way of understanding how the mind works, in New York City. He then began to help people with their thoughts and feelings in New York, while also working as an editor at a publishing company.
Later in his life, after he retired, he moved back to the south of France. There, he started painting again, but this time in a more Impressionism style, which uses small, thin brushstrokes to show light and movement. He later moved to Wales after marrying his English wife, Margaret.
Hiag Akmakjian's Career and Works
Hiag Akmakjian was very interested in how children grow and learn. This led him to write a book called The Natural Way to Raise a Healthy Child in 1975. This book was chosen by several popular book clubs.
He also had an idea to write about a famous photographer named Edward Weston. This idea made him move to California. Even though that book was never finished, his book about raising children helped him get a job writing a weekly advice column. It was called "The Good Enough Parent" and appeared in the Monterey, California Herald newspaper. In this column, he answered questions about babies and child development.
He kept learning more about photography. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he became friends with the famous photographer Ansel Adams. Years later, BBC Radio interviewed him about recordings he had made with Ansel Adams.
In 1979, he wrote another book called Snow Falling from a Bamboo Leaf: The Art of Haiku. Haiku is a type of short Japanese poem.
In the late 1990s, he wrote his first novel, 30,000 Mornings. It was published in Germany in 1999.
Books by Hiag Akmakjian
- The Natural Way to Raise a Healthy Child, 1975 (non-fiction)
- Snow Falling from a Bamboo Leaf, 1979 (non-fiction, about Haiku poetry)
- 30,000 Mornings, 1999 (novel)
- Writing to Get Published, 2011 (non-fiction)
- Name Dropping: The Cedar Bar in the 1950s, 2012 (novel)
- Babyloving, 2015 (non-fiction)
- Cleo, 2016 (novel)
Short Stories and Other Writings
Hiag Akmakjian also wrote several short stories that were published in different collections:
- Gite, 2007
- Sunday, 2008
- A Room on the Left Bank, 2008
He also wrote articles for magazines and journals, covering topics like psychology, literature, and photography. He even edited a book of photographs and designed another book.
His Final Years
Hiag Akmakjian lived in Wales with his wife, Margaret, until he passed away from lung cancer on January 10, 2017. He is remembered by his wife, Margaret, and his son, Nicolas.
