Saroyan's Travels

This illustrated chronology traces William Saroyan’s travels from 1935 to 1980, using his own records, archival research, photographs, quotations, and evidence from his writings.

Towards the end of his life, William Saroyan was enamored with lists. 

Not only lists that appeared in the media, such as Variety's annual necrology (the basis for the final book he published in his lifetime: Obituaries) but lists he created himself. He made lists of his publications (though missing several significant ones, including his first) and even annotated a daily calendar listing celebrity birthdays by noting which he knew, which he knew well, and which he had simply met. 

One list he created, apparently in early 1981, was a list of all the places he could remember visiting from 1935 to 1980. The list not only mentioned the cities, but often the hotels he stayed at, and sometimes even the means of transit he used to get there. 

The list has hundreds of entries, showing the path of a man who had visited every continent but Antarctica. The list, though thorough, was not complete, as he failed to mention several places he'd visited and had written about in his various memoirs and articles. In fact, there are whole years that are missing where there is clear evidence that he had been traveling. We've used Stanford's collection of William Saroyan's papers to confirm more specific dates, correct Saroyan's misremembered entries, as well as add entries to the list. We've noted added entries in brackets ([ ]) to clearly mark them. We are including photos, where we have them, as well as quotes about the trip, any known writing he'd done at the location, and sometimes interesting facts about people he met with, places he visited, or things he did. 

We will be adding to this decade-by-decade, all the way up through 1980, when his list ends, less than 6 months before his passing. We'll also be adding more content and clarifying entries as we find more information in his archives. 

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1935

[March 30 - April 7: Mexico City - Reforma Hotel]

Places Where I’ve Done Time – Chapter 40: Reforma Hotel, Mexico City, 1935: "In Mexico City I went to the newest and best hotel, the Reforma, because wasn't I a writer, a man who made rather good money from very easy work which he would have done even if he hadn't been able to earn any money from it."

 

 

[April 16-28: New York,  Hotel New Yorker - Attended first American Writer's Conference]

From Saroyan's Travel Notes: "New York is a gay and melancholy place, and I like it and I don't like it." 

From Saroyan Memoirs: "One night in 1935 I came out of the Cub room of the Stork Club in New York and found Walter Winchell standing beside the door chatting with Sherman Billingsley."

 

 

[~May 30 - June 4: New York (likely The Great Northern Hotel]

From the Preface of Subway Circus: "I was in New York in May, 1935. One day The New York Times said I had written a play, or was going to write one. I had bought a ticket to Europe. The boat was sailing in 5 days. I had not written a play. But it seemed to me that there was enough time before the sailing to write one. Nobody wants to make a liar of The New York Times."

NOTE: There is some confusion here, as Saroyan wrote journal entries, apparently from San Francisco, in mid-May, 1935. There are notes written by Saroyan on Great Northern stationery that are undated, but reference events that took place in 1935. It's likely that he left New York for San Francisco at the end of April or the beginning of May, then returned, likely by train, as there are several notes from the same time frame on Southern Pacific Railroads stationery. 

 

June 4-7: Cunard White Star ship “Berengaria”

Places Where I’ve Done Time – Chapter 32: The Berengaria, New York to Southhampton, 1935

"It was my first ocean crossing, in late March or early April 1935. The ship was one of the biggest in the world, one of the biggest ever built, about 70,000 tons, the Cunard Line's Berengaria."

NOTE: Saroyan misremembered the date of his journey to Southhampton in Places Where I've Done Time, but also may have been confused with a trip on the Cunard Line's Aquitania in the 1930s. Saroyan was in Mexico City from the 30th of March through April 7, 1935. The date here was confirmed from his travel ticket on the Berengaria in the William Saroyan papers held at Stanford's Special Collections.

 

 

 

June 6-7: London – The Savoy Hotel

Place Where I’ve Done Time, Chapter 43: Savoy Hotel, London, 1935: "The Strand began to feel like home to me when I first found it on a short trip in 1935, on my way to Russia for the first time, on my first visit to Europe itself."

 

 

June 8-9: Paris – Atlantic Hotel

 From Saroyan's Notes: "All the nonsense you hear about Paris is true."

 

[June 10-19: Moscow, Russia - Bucharest Hotel]

 Places Where I’ve Done Time – Chapter 48: Bucharest Hotel, Moscow, 1935: "I certainly had a nice room on the highest floor of the Bucharest Hotel in Moscow in June of 1935, and a bath down the hall and good Russian food."

From My Name is Saroyan: "The day after I reached Moscow from Sevastopol, in July 1935, it rained and I wrote a short story called "Moscow in Tears" which the Russians stole from me and, to this day have not returned to me."

From 3 Frangments and a Story (The Little Man, 1939) "One evening in Moscow I met an American writer. Like myself he was homesick for America and was pleased, I think, to hear me say I was. I was glad to feel he was glad to know I was homesick too."

On this visit, Saroyan also met Armenian poet Yeghishe Charentz.

 

 

[Late June/Early July: Yerevan]

From "First Trip to Armenia" - "...I began to visit Armenia as soon as I had earned the necessary money, by writing - in 1935."

From an Intourist Press release - "New York - The brightest meteor in the past year's literary sky, is going home to see the people he sprang from. William Saroyan, the American born Armenian who wrote short stories that created a sensation is off to Soviet Armenia to find out what it is all about."

 

 

July 11: Vienna – Hotel Kongress

 

 

July 12-14: Helsinki – Hotelli Torni

Saroyan Memoirs - Chapter: Jean Sibelius: "The minute I got up to my room at the Torni Hotel in Helsinki around ten o'clock that night, I began to write a story called 'Finlandia.'"

 

 

July 15-18: Stockholm – Hotel Reisen

 

 

July 19-21: Edinburgh – Adelphi Hotel

From Saroyan's travel notes: "July 19, 1935, 3p.m. - "A gray city. Old castles. Rain. And yet to me a place of warmth." 

 

July 21-22: London – The National Hotel

 

 

July 30 to  August 5: New York, New York – Great Northern Hotel

Places Where I’ve Done Time – Chapter 29: The Great Northern Hotel, 118 West 57^th Street, New York 1935: "During my walks up or down 57th street, I passed the narrow entrance to the Great Northern Hotel many times and several times noticed the name and liked it."

During this visit, he wrote his famous story "The Armenian and The Armenian."

 

 

August 18: St. Louis - Hotel Jefferson

 

 

[October 9: Hollywood, Hollywood Plaza Hotel]

 

 

[New Orleans - Hotel St. Charles]

 

 

1937

 

[April: Hollywood, California - The Hollywood Plaza Hotel]

A portion of this stay at the Hollywood Plaza was paid for by Columbia Pictures, though it's unclear what project they were attempting to launch.

 

[July 7-~12: Reno, Nevada - Golden Hotel]

NOTE: the dates here are uncertain. We know Saroyan left San Francisco either late on the 6th or early the 7th. He was in Reno the evening of the 7th. He wrote a Telegram to Pat Winter saying that he had missed the train to Reno on the 6th. 

[July 27 - Sept 3: New York - Great Northern Hotel]

Saroyan kept a detailed and expansive journal during his trip, with entries for nearly every day of his trip, some of which ran several pages. 

On this trip, Saroyan met with film director Rouben Mamoulian several times, including a dinner at the Golden Horn, an Armenian Restaurant at 122 West 49th Street. 

 

 

 [September 4-5(?): Chicago, Illinois - La Salle Hotel]

Love, Here is My Hat: "The La Salle Hotel in Chicago" - "How the hell do you know it? the anarchist shouted. Catch on? he said. You were born in Chicago. You lived here all your life until three months ago. Your father was born in Chicago. Your mother was born in Chicago. Your father worked in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago. Your mother worked in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago. You worked in the La Salle Hotel in Chicago." 

NOTE: the dates found on hotel receipts in the Saroyan collection state September 4-6, but are contradicted by letters he dated from Great Falls, Montana, that show September 6th. In his New York journal, he claims to have spent "5 hours in Chicago's bars" There is a train ticket that is undated that may mean he spent the night on a train to Great Falls from Chicago and just paid for an extra night at the hotel.

 

 

[September 6:  Great Falls, Montana - Rainbow Hotel]

From Saroyan's travel notes: "Arrived in this city at noon today, in bad shape, looking shot, guts in a mess." 

 

 

[December 13-16th: Los Angeles - Hollywood Plaza Hotel]

On his drive back to San Francisco, he stopped to enjoy the wrestling matches at Ryan's Auditorium in Fresno on December 17th. The main event was Ignatio Martinez vs. Sammy Stein, which ended in a draw. 

 

 

1938

[March 9-11: Los Angeles - Hollywood Plaza Hotel]

From Saroyan's journal, March 11: "Bath; sleep, piano music over the portable radio; hunger; visit to Stanley Rose's; next door to Musso & Frank's with Stanley; Jim Tully with a girl named Elsie Velez or some such thing."

San Francisco – The Press Club of California

 

 

September: Sacramento – State Fair

 

 

 

1939

April 23rd: Long Island, New York – Metropolitan Jockey Club

 

 

March 30 - April 4: Mexico – Paris Mansion for Tourists

 

April 5-7: S.S. Siboney to Havana, Cuba

 

 

 May 8th - 13th: New York - The Great Northern Hotel

The Time of Your Life - Preface - The first draft was written in six days, in New York, beginning Monday, May 8, 1939, and ending Saturday, May 13. The first title was "The Light Fantastic."

Saroyan wrote The Time of Your Life in the hotel over six days on a Royal Portable Typewriter he bought for $30. 

 

 

[June 14-17: S.S. Normandie - New York to La Havre]

From Saroyan's travel notes: Thursday, June 15, 1939 - Main Event - get to Dublin and there with a play about New York, altogether different than the other two plays"  

From Saroyan's Travel Notes: "The Three Classes - a play about the passengers of the Normandie on the voyage from New York to La Havre beginning Wednesday, June 14th, 1939. 

• First Class
• Second Class
• Third Class

To be written aboard ship and played in the ship's theatre by whatever talent happens to be available."

 

 

June 23rd - 28th: Dublin, Ireland – The Royal Hibernian Hotel

Places Where I've Done Time - The Royal Hibernian Hotel, Dublin, 1939 -  "The Royal Hiberian is one of the best hotels in Dublin, but in 1939, when I stopped there, I did not know that. I chose the place because of its grand name.

On this trip, Saroyan met several Irish writers, including Seán Ó Faoláin, playwrights Christine Longford and George Shiels, poets Louis MacNiece and Ewart Milnes, and Brian O'Nolan, better known as Flann O'Brien.  

 

[October: Boston - The Ritz Hotel]

The Place of Places - The Ritz Hotel, Boston, October 1939:"We went on to Boston and I had a suite at the Ritz Hotel. The theatre was a walk of four or five blocks, some of it across Copley Square. My cousin acted as my private secretary, ran errands, and reported scuttlebutt every evening. Room service was great at the Ritz, and next door was a very famous fish restaurant, so there was plenty of good eating in Boston during the fresh staging of the play." 

Saroyan came to Boston to fine-tune The Time of Your Life following a disastrous opening in New Haven. He re-tooled the show in Boston before its debut in New York. 

Saroyan and his cousin, Ross Bagdasarian, ate regularly at Clark's Oyster Bar, the restaurant next to the Ritz hotel. 

 

1940s & 50s

William Saroyan spent much of the 1940s away from home, or more accurately, he made his home in many different, far-flung places. From Hollywood, working as a writer for Louis B. Mayer, to New York as a new father and husband, to his service in World War II in New York and London, Saroyan seldom called his traditional homes of Fresno and San Francisco ‘home’. By the end of the decade, he had largely relocated to Paris. Perhaps this is why there are so few entries in Saroyan's own Chronology of Travels.

It’s also clear that he either forgot or ignored much of his travel in the 40s and 50s. This does seem a bit odd because he collected a great deal of material from many of the trips he failed to add to the list, including journal entries, dated hotel receipts, laundry bills, valet tickets, lottery tickets, betting stubs, and even theatre programs with dates on the front written in his unmistakable scrawl. It could have been that whatever project he might have been working on would be limited to only the ones he felt had some merit. It could also have been that he was only half-heartedly attempting to make a thorough document and was going completely off of memory.  

At the beginning of this portion of his travel chronology, Saroyan was still riding high off the success of his first books, the release of his first plays, and in general being one of the best-known people in America. By the US' entry into World War II, he had started to settle down a little, entered the service, got married, and started his family. This may have led to a part of the reason why Saroyan didn't remember some significant trips; he had much more pressing matters on his mind!

By 1949, he had divorced his wife, and seemed to enter a phase where he was, if not entirely self-destructive, at least trying to take his mind off his troubles, often through gambling. After his second marriage to Carol Marcus, and subsequent divorce, he seemed to dive even deeper into the escape that travel provided him. He made several months-long tours of Europe, Asia, and even a slightly disjointed around-the-world cruise.

One difficulty is determining what is travel and what is simply moving and staying a couple of nights in a hotel. We've made as a serious effort to figure that out, using published sources, as well as reading his journals, notes, and other materials from the William Saroyan papers at Stanford University's Green Library. For some of these trips, Saroyan kept detailed journal entries which certainly helped document this period, though occasionally they contradict other items he collected along the way!

Entries in brackets ([ ]) are added to the list created by Saroyan in his Chronology of Travel in 1980.

1940

[February 22: Murietta, California - Murrieta Hot Springs]

 

[October 17: New York, New York - The Hotel Commodore]

From The Lexington Herald - Sunday, November 24th, 1940: "It was left for William Saroyan, first made famous by his short story, "Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze," and now the father of three romantic and enigmatic plays, to be the only author to speak about himself." 

Saroyan attended the Pan-American Dinner for Writers-in-Exile, which was broadcast over WMCA radio. Other attendees included Pearl S. Buck, Fannie Hurst, and Franz Werfel. 

1943

[~October 18-22: Dayton, Ohio - The Van Cleve Hotel]

From a 1946 Letter to Carol Saroyan (nee Marcus): Darling, Ha Ha. It wasn't so long ago was it Bill

NOTE: This trip featured the marriage between William Saroyan and Carol Marcus. Saroyan was stationed at Wright Field. The pair were married in Columbus on the 20th, but stayed at the Van Cleve, along with Carol's mother. Saroyan held on to some Van Cleve Hotel stationery for three years to write a love note to Carol. 

1944

[February 23rd - London, England]

From "The Wild Boy" in BOOKS and BOOKMEN - "My first meeting with the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas was in the morning around 11, on a dreary day in February 1944, in London."

Saroyan was transferred to London while on assignment with the Army Motion Picture Unit. 

1945

[Late May: Auburn, California, DeWitt Hospital]

Saroyan went to the fairly new DeWitt Army Hospital for recurring pain in his leg from a fall he had suffered in 1939. 

 

[June 1-2: Red Bluff, California - Hotel Tremont]

 

[~June 2-5: Eugene, Oregon - Osburn Hotel]

 

[~June 6-9, Spokane, Washington - Madigan Hospital

Saroyan was transferred to Madigan Hospital in Spokane. 

 

 

[June 10-13: Tacoma, Washington - Winthrop Hotel]

 

 

[June 13-14: Portland, Oregon - Hotel Benson]

 

1949

[April 6: New York - St. Moritz Hotel]

European Trip: April to July

April 21: Dublin, Ireland - The Ivanhoe Hotel

Saroyan, wanting to remove himself from the drama surrounding his failing marriage, found that he could fly from New York to Dublin for 317 dollars, and he booked a flight for the next day. Saroyan stayed in Dublin for only twelve hours before heading to Paris. 

 

April 22-26: Paris, France - The Scribe Hotel

Place Where I’ve Done Time – Chapter 4 (The Opera Club, 24 Avenue de l’Opera, Paris, 1949) - "And I saw the place again in June of the year 1949, twenty years ago-damned if I know how all that time went away the way it did, unnoticed-I had just come up to Paris from Lisbon by way of Biarritz, and I was short of money. I was stopping at the Scribe, forty-one years old. What to do? What to do? It was all slow, it was all stupid, everything was wrong. Perhaps I ought to have a couple of drinks and do a little gambling."

NOTE: Saroyan went directly from Dublin to Paris, according to the receipts among his papers. He does not appear to have visited Biarritz on this trip, though would on later trips in the 1950s. He visited Lisbon later on this same trip. 

Saroyan lost several hundred dollars at the Casino in Paris, requiring him to search for loans, advances, and even extend his stay to buy time to get the needed money to pay his hotel bill! He eventually won a hundred thousand francs, allowing him to pay off most of his debts.  

His cousin Chesley was in Paris with his wife, Amie. The trio enjoyed a performance by legendary French singer Edith Piaf. 

Saroyan attended the fights at Palais des Sports Vél d'Hiv on Monday, April 25th. The main event for the evening was Jo Nocera beating Marcel Auclair on points in an 8-round bout that went the distance. 

 

May 1-2: Milan, Italy - The Continental Hotel

From Saroyan's journal: Sunday, May 1, 1949 - 11pm -  "The train ride from Paris to Milan was not only slow - the train did not move at all most of the time." 

Saroyan had brought his typewriter along with him, hoping to do some writing as a way to make money on his trip. On a train ride in Italy, he was separated from his typewriter, though it would eventually be sent to Chesley in Paris when located by the railroad company.

 

 

May 3-4: Venice, Italy - Excelsior Palace Hotel

NOTE: In John Leggett's A Daring Young Man, he records Saroyan as having stayed at the Danielli. Materials in the Saroyan papers support his staying at the Excelsior Palace, though there was also a bill, likely a bar tab, from the Danielli. 

 

 

May 5-14: Rome, Italy: Hotel Hassler-Roma

 

 

May 14-15: Monte Carlo - Hotel de Paris

Saroyan was riding a lucky streak as he won a few hundred dollars at the casino in Monte Carlo. 

 

[May 16: Marseille, France - Grand Hotel]

Saroyan did well at Casinos in France, and while in Marseilles, he purchased some gold coins, specifically an 1887 English gold coin, for which he paid 90 dollars. 

 

 

May 17-19: Barcelona, Spain - Hotel Majestic or May 18-21: Barcelona, Spain - The Ritz Hotel

Saroyan paid for rooms at the Ritz and the Majestic simultaneously. Though it's unclear which he actually stayed in, it's clear he checked in to the Majestic on May 17th and paid his bill for a stay that ended on the 19th. He checked into the Ritz on the 18th and stayed through the 21st. His journal of those days does not offer any clarity, though he did make notes on a piece of Hotel Majestic stationary. 

 

[~May 21-27: Madrid, Spain - The Palace Hotel]

John Legget's A Daring Young Man says that Saroyan's Spanish publisher, Jose Janes, put him up at the Palace Hotel. The dates are uncertain, as the typical fashion of dating hotel stays, using the hotel bill from his check-out, would have gone to Janes instead of coming with him. 

 

May 27-29: Lisbon, Portugal - Aviz Hotel

Saroyan writes extensively about this visit in his novella The Assyrian

Saroyan went on a gambling binge at the Estoril Casino in Lisbon. At times, he was up as much as a thousand dollars, and at other times, required money to be wired to him to keep him afloat. He would extend his stay at hotels until he could win enough money to check out and pay his bill.

 

Florence – Excelsior Hotel

 

[June 22 - SS Nieuw Amsterdam - Paris to New York]

On the ship, Saroyan met famed philosopher and theologian Dr. Albert Schweitzer.

 

October 1-~November 15: Las Vegas, Nevada – The El Rancho Hotel

Places Where I’ve Done Time, Chapter 56: The El Rancho Vegas Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, 1949: "Every hour I spent in Las Vegas was part of a killing nightmare. It is a wonder that all I lost was $50,000."

Saroyan went to Las Vegas to establish residency so he could acquire a divorce from his wife, Carol, after 6 years of marriage. At the time, Nevada had the shortest period to establish residency to acquire a divorce: six weeks. He was joined at times by John Fante and Ross Baghdasarian. 

 

1950 -1951

July 2-24, 1950: Laramie, Wyoming - University of Wyoming Men's Residence Hall

Saroyan was invited to speak at the Laramie Arts Festival and watch the production of Afton Waters, which had been retitled A Western Awakening. The play received praise on its only performance, July 20, 1950. 

 

 

December 24th, 1950: Fresno

 

December 25, 1950: Hollywood - Sunset Towers (home of Stanley Rose)

 

 

December 26, 1950: San Diego

 

December 28, 1950:Gila Bend, Arizona

Saroyan's stop at Gila Bend may have been little more than a dinner and nap. He collected a postcard from Allison's Steak House, which may have been his one meal in town. 

 

December 29, 1950, and likely January 9-10, 1951: El Paso, Texas – Hotel El Paso del Norte

 

December 30 - Chihuahua, Mexico

This was likely a day trip.

 

Likely December 30 or 31: El Centro, California  

Saroyan simply notes 'El Centro' on his list of travels, but the timeline established by hotel receipts and other memorabilia would make the timing seem off. John Leggett says that Saroyan visited his friend Alex Pilibos, philanthropist and former roommate of Saroyan's uncle, Aram, at USC. Ross Bagdasarian joined him on this trip. 

 

January 1-7, 1951: Mexico City - probably the Hotel Los Monteros

Saroyan clearly toured Mexico at this point, probably using the Hotel Los Monteros as headquarters. 

 

January 8-9, 1951: Tucson, Arizona - Pioneer Hotel

 

 

Potentially January 10 or 11: Yuma, Arizona

There is no evidence among Saroyan's records that he stayed in Yuma other than a postcard and a few notes. He may have simply driven through, but did include it on his list of travels.

 

 

January 12-19: Mexico – El Parador

Saroyan was given a two-week pass to use The British Club in Mexico City, a private gentleman's club. Apparently, a contact he made at the club took him to see cockfighting. 

 

 

January 22: New Orleans, Louisiana – St. Charles Hotel

 

January 23: Pensacola, Florida – The San Carlos

January 28-30: Miami Beach, Florida – MacFadded-Deauville Hotel

From The Miami Herald, Sun, Jan 28, 1951: "...(ex-Private) William Saroyan, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, in town for a well-earned vacation, a go at fishing in the Florida Keys, and sightseeing in the Everglades."

 

January 30-February 1: Havana, Cuba – Hotel Nacional de Cuba

 

February 1-2: Palm Beach – Biltmore Hotel

 

 

February 16-17: Columbia, South Carolina - Barringer Hotels

 

Summer: London - either the Savoy or The Mount Royal

Saroyan attended the Festival of Britain on this visit. While it's not known exactly which exhibitions he attended, he did have several pieces of memorabilia from the South Bank exhibition. 

NOTE: Saroyan's visit to London is certain, as he visited the Festival of Britain at some point in the summer of 1951. There is doubt about which hotel he stayed at during this trip. He wrote several letters between April 24th and May 6th on letterhead from both The Savoy and The Mount Royal though there are no hotel receipts from either, and Saroyan habitually held on to his receipts. It is possible he stayed at both for a brief period, or perhaps ate or had drinks at one and grabbed some stationery. Saroyan also mistakenly listed this as being 1949 instead of 1951. His journals from the period do not indicate where he stayed, though notes that he had dinner at each.

 

 

1952

Bakersfield, California – Hotel El Tejon

 

Beverly Hills, California – The Beverly Carlton

 This was where Saroyan said he met Marilyn Monroe. At the time, Monroe lived at the Carlton. 

New York – The Hotel Pierre

 

 

1954

Spring: New York City – The Essex House

On this visit, Saroyan attended The Metropolitan Opera's staging of Don Giovanni. This was the first re-imagining of the Opera in more than 20 years and was not well-received. 

 

 

July 10-16: Dallas Texas – Hotel Adolphus 

Saroyan attended the State Fair Musicals. He drove to Dallas with his uncle, Mihran.

The 1954 musicals were: 

• Hazel Flagg
• Naughty Marietta
• Panama Hattie
• Wish You Were Here
• Wonderful Town

 

 

August 14: Las Vegas, Nevada – The Riviera Hotel

 NOTE: Saroyan noted he visited the Santa Anita Turf Club on this visit. He clearly got either the date or the location wrong. The Santa Anita Turf Club, a part of the Frontier Hotel Casino, closed in 1952 amidst charges of bootlegging. It is possible that he confused a betting slip from Santa Anita racetrack, where he would gamble on the horses when in Southern California, with a receipt from the Turf Club, where it is highly likely he had been with John Fante or during his time staying in Las Vegas to establish residency. 

 

Grand Canyon, Arizona – El Tovar Hotel

 

Fall: New York – The Copacabana

 

~October 6-10: Los Angeles, California – The Chapman Park Hotel

Saroyan, ever the gambler, bet 110 dollars on USC to win their October 8th game with Texas Christian University. The Trojans of USC lost, 7-20. 

 

December 20th - February, 1955: New York - The Great Northern Hotel.

Saroyan was in town in preparation for the Group Theatre's revival of The Time of Your Life featuring Franchot Tone, which Saroyan thought would be a disaster, but turned out to be a critic's favorite. 

Saroyan wrote what would be his next, and final, Broadway play, The Cave Dwellers, while staying at the Great Northern, where he had also written The Time of Your Life. 

 

1956

Boston – The Ritz Carlton

September 27-November 24: New York - The Great Northern Hotel.

Saroyan attended the premiere of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? at the Belasco Theatre, the site of his own greatest theatrical success. He was unimpressed, but the play received excellent reviews and did strong box-office, later spawning a hit film. His then-twice ex-wife Carol had originally been up for the lead in the play, but was passed over for Jayne Mansfield, who became a massive star because of it. 

 

Spring: New York City – Hotel Edison or Essex House

NOTE: There is some confusion, as he mentioned in his journal that he had stayed at the Edison in 1956, but on his list he did not mention the Essex, but had a postcard from the hotel in the folder for 1956. This is compounded by the fact that Saroyan was in New York quite a bit in the mid-to-late 1950s, often for extended periods to see Aram and Lucy. 

 

July 22nd: Las Vegas, Nevada – Hotel Sands

 

Fall: New York City – The Westbury

 

1957

May 1-20: Hotel St. Regis

Saroyan moved into the St. Regis as preparations for The Cave Dwellers began. He spent much time with his kids, Aram and Lucy, and arranged for a European tour in the summer. 

 

May 20-30: SS Vulcania

William, Aram and Lucy sailed from New York to Rotterdam on the Vulcania. The ports of call were Lisbon, Gibraltar, Palermo, Naples, Patras, and Venice, where the Saroyans disembarked. 

[May 30~June 6: Venice - Hotel Denielli]

 

June 21-29: Athens, Greece – Hotel Grande-Bretagne

The Saroyans traveled to Athens via The Orient Express. 

 

 

June 30-Mid July: Sitges, Spain

Saroyan's My Name is Aram (translated as Mi Nombre es Aram) was released in Spain in the Summer of 1957. Saroyan's Spanish editor, Jose Janes, invited Saroyan to a house in the city so that he could write, but Saroyan found he could not write in the house and relocated to Barcelona, though there's no record of where he stayed or any of his activities in the city.  

Summer: Belgrade – Hotel Moskva

 

Summer: Manheim – Palast Hotel Mannheimer Hof

 

[May 21-28: Paris, France - Hotel George V]

 Before getting his own apartment on Avenue Victor Hugo, Saroyan stayed at the Hotel George V.  

 Saroyan gambled at the Opera Club, where he had played on his visits to Paris in the 1930s. 

 

July 25: Cunard Line – RMS Queen Elizabeth

The Queen Elizabeth made the following ports of call: Southampton, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Cobh, Halifax, New York;
Saroyan, perhaps out of onboard boredom, began recording the number of miles traveled each day and calculating the average miles-per-hour the Queen Elizabeth traveled. 
Also traveling on the Queen Elizabeth was John Steinbeck, and the two met several times for meals and drinks. 

 

El Paso, Texas – Southern Pacific Lines

 

 

Las Vegas, Nevada – Hotel Sahara

 

1958

March: American President Line - SS President Wilson

From Here Come There Goes You Know Who: "From Malibu in 1958 I went around the world, taking with me the daily work of writing Fifty-fifty, started on the first day of my fiftieth year, September 1, 1957, finished on my last, August 31, 1958."

This was the beginning of Saroyan's around-the-world tour. On this leg, he traveled to Japan on the SS President Wilson. He doesn't seem to have recorded where he came on board, though he wrote about the trip briefly in a number of places. He toured the country and appeared on television. He was already one of the most popular American authors in Japan, and his stories are used to this day in Japanese English textbooks. 

 

 

April 7: Swedish American Line: SS Chusan

The Chusan's ports of call were Yokohama, Kobe, Hong Kong, Suva, Auckland, Melborne, Adelaide, Fremantle, Singapore, Penang, Colombo, Bombay, Aden, Port Said, Naples, Marseilles, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Le Havre, Southampton, and London. It is unclear where he disembarked the Chusan, though the most likely port was Le Havre. He appears to have stopped in Hong Kong, where he was measured and ordered a new suit. 

 

May 27-June 4: TSS Nieuw Amsterdam

Saroyan had recently relocated to France and traveled from Rotterdam on the Nieuw Amsterdam on May 27th, arriving in New York on June 4th. The ship's ports of call were Rotterdam, Le Havre, Southampton, Cobh, Galway, and New York.

 

September: MS Gripsholm - New York to Copenhagen or Gothenburg

It's unclear where Saroyan disembarked, though he clearly went on to Brussels after landing, making Copenhagen more likely. 

 

 

[September or October: Brussels - Brussels Universal and International Exhibition]

While there's no record of where he stayed in Brussels, he attended the exhibition in Brussels and collected much memorabilia, especially of the USSR's exhibits. 

 

September or October: Budapest, Hungary

 

October: Moscow: National Hotel

From Here Come There Goes You Know Who: "In Moscow at the National Hotel I was given suite 107, and one day a Moscow reporter informed me that I was living in Lenin's rooms. Just after the revolution Lenin spent two nights in 107 before moving across the Red Square into the Kremlin. It did nothing for me." 

 

October: Belgrade, Yugoslavia - Hotel Moscow

Saroyan made this trip largely to meet with the Avala Film Beograd team about making a film in Yugoslavia. 

 

October: Munich, Germany – Hotel View Jahrzeiten

 

1959

January 15 - February 21: New York - Royalton Hotel

From Not Dying: "I was back at the hotel where Nathan had died, and back in the city where my father had first set foot in America, in 1905..."

Saroyan stayed at the Royalton, where in April of 1958, Saroyan's greatest theatrical champion George Jean Nathan, had died. 

Saroyan had made up his mind to relocate to Europe by 1959, but stayed in New York for a full month to settle affairs, including paying Aram's overdue tuition to Trinity Pawling School. He spent time with Lucy and Aram and also his brother Henry, who happened to be traveling through New York at the time. 

 

 

Feb 21-March 9: SS Saturnia – New York to Trieste

From Not Dying: "When I went aboard the ship, and when the ship began to move away from the dock, down the Hudson into the Harbor, past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, I believed I was on my way to my death, that this was my last voyage. And that was the point."

From the AP Newswire, February 21, 1959: LEAVING TAX WOES BEHIND-- "Mustached William Saroyan, 50, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, sat in a stateroom aboard liner Saturnia before sailing for Yugoslavia yesterday to do a movie. He expressed a dislike for Hollywood actors and the methods of tax collectors. Saroyan recently said he owes over $30,000 in income taxes, not including returns for 1958. He also said he may stay abroad for the rest of his life."

Saroyan boarded the Saturnia in New York on February 21st. The Saturnia made stops in Lisbon, Gibraltar, Barcelona, Naples, Palermo, Patras, Dubrovnik, Venice, and finally Trieste, where Saroyan disembarked. He had originally planned on stopping at Venice, but apparently changed his mind and continued to the end of the line. 

Saroyan ventured into Lisbon on February 28th to gamble at the Casino Miracle.

 

 

March 9-10: Trieste, Italy - Grand Hotel et de la Ville

 

March 11-16: Belgrade, Yugoslavia - Hotel Metropole

From Not Dying: "All the same, I had plans, and I believed  in the plans, too. I believed I would make a moving picture in Yugoslavia, and when I knew that this would not be, I believed something else."

While still in New York, Saroyan had been in communication with Avala Film Beograd, the first Yugoslavian film production group. Saroyan had intended to create a treatment for a film titled Ya, Yugoslavia on his voyage to Europe, but only managed a few pages of notes. Difficulties with the production group led Saroyan to abandon the project.

Saroyan purchased a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia for 1,400 dollars. In a fit of pique brought about by feeling he'd have no control over any movie he made in Belgrade, Saroyan left the hotel suddenly, telling his translator to inform Avala Film that he would not be pursuing the project. He ended up getting into a fender-bender in his brand new car on the way out of the hotel parking lot. 

 

[March 16-17: Zagreb, Croatia - Hotel Esplanade]

Saroyan, drove to Zagreb in his new car, stopping only to sleep in the hotel and eat breakfast. 

 

[March 17th: Milan, Italy - Hotel Europa]

 

March 18-20: Geneva, Switzerland - Hotel des Bergues

 

March 24: Aix-en-Provence

From Not Dying: "...I went to Aix-en-Provence, where I believed I would win at the casino, but I didn't win, I lost." 

 

March 21-28: Nice, France - Hotel Ruhl

From Not Dying: "And then I went to Nice, where I lost some more, and to all the casinos on the Riviera, where I lost..."

 

March 21-28: San Remo, Italy - Royal Hotel

Saroyan gambled at the Sanremo Casino, but lost a good deal of money. 

 

[April 5-12: Cannes, France - Majestic Hotel

 

[April 13-May 21: Paris - George V Hotel]

From Places Where I've Done Time, Chapter 38: "I really hated being in Paris, and I wasn't very happy about not having bought a vineyard somewhere along the Riviera. I had been drinking and gambling steadily for a good three or four weeks, and so I went right on drinking. And gambling."

October: Paris, France - The Raphael Hotel

From Places Where I’ve Done Time, Chapter 38: Raphael Hotel, Paris, 1959: "The only thing the movie hirelings were able to find was a suite at the Raphael, on Avenue Kleber near the Étoile - very expensive. Even a small room at that hotel, sought out by famous people who did not wish to be disturbed by the press or anybody else, was very expensive."

Saroyan met with film producer Daryl Zanuck, who had left Hollywood for Paris, to work on a new film project based around the mogul's relationship with his girlfriend, actress Juliet Greco. After a dispute over pay, and an unpaid hotel bill, Saroyan was forced to leave the Raphael, and eventually cover the bill for the room. 

 

October 30-November 18: SS Neptunia Lloyd Triestino Line - Genoa, Italy to Sydney, Australia

The Neptunia was launched in 1951 and ran between Genoa, Italy and Sydney, Australia. It passed through the Suez Canal to connect between the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Ports of Call were Genoa, Naples, Messina, Port Said, Suez, Aden, Colombo, Djakarta, Fremantle, Melbourne, and Sydney. It appears he took at least brief excursions into Port Said, Aden, and Djakarta.

 

November 26-December 7: Sydney, Australia – Ambassador Private Hotel

Saroyan spent a significant amount of time at the Sydney Turf Club, betting on the ponies. He was highly successful and managed to make enough money to fly home.

 

December 8: Australia – Quantus Airlines from Sydney to San Francisco

 

 

While the 50s had been difficult on account of two divorces, growing debt, problems with the IRS, gambling issues, and many other travails, the 1960s were a period of seeming rootlessness. He was splitting his time between multiple homes: Paris, San Francisco, Malibu, and Fresno. He traveled widely during the decade, but also made a few extended stays, such as his time with a residency at Purdue University, where he wrote and premiered High Times Along the Wabash. He traveled by train and by boat, his favorite means of international travel, and made several trans-continental car trips. He made several visits to familiar cities and hotels: the Royalton in New York, the Royal Hibernian in Dublin, the Scribe and St. George V in Paris, The Savoy in London. He made three trips to the Soviet Union and Armenia. He staged several plays, including Sam, the Highest Jumper of Them All. 

Saroyan ventured to the Eastern Bloc far more in the 1960s than any other decade, with visits to Russia, Armenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, East Germany, Serbia, and Bulgaria. He often interacted with writers there, or attended large conferences. 

In this portion, he listed several items that were not like the others: restaurants, theatres, and plays he was producing. He was much less exact in his other decades. This was also the decade he released several books, including two novels, as well as began regularly publishing short fiction in major markets like The Saturday Evening Post, Harper's, and The New Yorker. 

The other issue with the 1960s, as far as this list is concerned, was he seemed far less interested in documenting his dates. While he held on to many things, including some travel tickets and hotel receipts, he appears to have journaled less about his trips, and his notes are far less detailed with dates. Perhaps the fact that he was spread between multiple homes hampered his near-compulsive collecting of his travel ephemera.

 NOTE: Dates in brackets ([ ]) do not appear on the original list, but are documented in his other writings or through research in the William Saroyan Collection at Stanford's Green library.

1960

[January: New York City - The Royalton]

Saroyan saw many plays in January, 1960, including Little Mary Sunshine, a debut operetta by Rick Bosoyan, at the Orpheum theatre. The show starred Eileen Brennan in the title role. 

Written by Saroyan on his program to Little Mary Sunshine: "Sunday Jan 10 1960 845pm 3.90 After said hello to Basoyan from Fresno, moved early to Alameda speaks no Armenian"

 

March-April: London, England - Savoy Hotel, Staged Sam The Highest Jumper of Them All at the Theatre Royal

Saroyan staged Sam The Highest Jumper of Them All in the East End starting on April 6th. The production was savaged by critics, and Saroyan himself told the cast that the play was going to be a bomb. Despite this foreknowledge, Saroyan wrote to all the critics who didn't write glowing reviews complaining about their reviews! 

 

 

October 4: Michail Kalinin – (Tilbury, London to Leningrad)

There is some question as to this trip. It is listed as 1962 in the travel document, but there are references to his 1960 trip to Russia, but none for a 1962 trip to Russia. There are a number of pieces in the William Saroyan travel ephemera collection at Stanford that are catalogued as 1962, but no dates that clearly indicate that is, in fact the year. There are materials in a folder marked as being from a 1960 visit as well, though nothing that clearly states that the visit was taken in 1960. It could be a case of Saroyan simply misremembering the year. The Michail Kalinin was launched in 1958. 

 

[~September 29: Odessa]

Saroyan visited the Soviet Union in September, and likely early October, 1960. There is a notebook in existence that is full of his drawings created on the trip, though little information on the specifics of the rest of that trip. 

 

Paris, France – Hotel La Perouse

 

 

1961

 February 2-12: New York – Hotel St. Regis

Saroyan worked on the narration for an episode of the Omnibus television program called Fierce, Funny and Far Out. He stayed at the pricey St. Regis as CBS television was paying for the room. 

 

May 4: Beyreuth – Hotel Goldener Anker

 

May 6: Berlin – Berlin Hilton

 

~May 6: Berlin – Theatre Guild American Repertory Co. – Schiller Theatre

In the 1960s, President John F. Kennedy encouraged the Theatre Guild to tour European capitals with American productions. The Theatre Guild American Repertory company was founded and headed by American acting legend Helen Hayes. Saroyan attended a performance of The Glass Menagerie by Thorton Wilder on May 6th.

 

 

May 7: Hamburg – Hotel Wedina

 

 

May 7: Hamburg – Hansa Theatre

It's not clear why this entry was included, the Hansa being one of Hamburg's better-known theatres, was mostly showing films at the time. There was also a typo on the list, listing it as the 'hausa' theatre instead of Hansa. His visit to Hamburg in general is murky as he had many notes written on various undated scraps from Hamburg hotels and restaurants, though some indicate dates in March and April, and others much later in the year, or perhaps even in the previous year. 

 

 

May 8: Aabenraa, Denmark – Hotel Danmark

 

 

Likely May 9: Kristiansand (Christiansted) – St. John’s parish

From The Ford TImes, "Over Pacheco Pass and Down in to San Francisco" - "My destination for the day was Kristiansand, to which I came at length, in which I put aside the car and began to move about on foot. From 7 to 11 o'clock in the evening I walked in Kristiansand and came to places and stopped to sit and drink and remember other drives I had taken."

 

 

[July 24 - The Homeric: Paris to Montreal, Canada]

From Short Drive, Sweet Chariot: "You boys are a disgrace to Canada, a country I may move to one day because two years ago when I drove in a little red racer from Montreal to Medicine Hat I fell in love with Canada..."

Saroyan sailed on the Homeric with his 'red racer' a Karmann Ghia which he had purchased for $1,400 and driven across Europe several times. 

Saroyan also lists all the cities he passed through on the way to pick up his daughter Lucy at a ranch in Montana: Ottawa, Pembroke, Matawa, North Bay, Sudbury, Espanola, Blind River, Thessalon, Sault Ste. Marie, Mamainse, Wawa, Terrace Bay, Schreiber, Nipigon, Port Arthur, Ft. William, Kakabeka Falls, Upsala, Ignase, Dinorwic, Dryden, Vermillion Bay, Kenora, St. Boniface, Winnipeg, Portage La Prairie, Sidney, Brandon, Virden, Moosomin, Whitewood, Broadview, Indian Head, Regina, Moose Jaw, Chaplin, Herbert, Swift Current, Gull Lake, and Medicine Hat.

 

 

[September 5-16, New York - The Drake Hotel]

Saroyan stayed at The Drake in early September before leaving for Purdue University. 

 

September through December: Lafayette, Indiana - Faculty at Purdue University

Saroyan was brought to Purdue to serve as an instructor at Purdue for a semester from September 1961 through that December. While at Purdue, he wrote, produced, directed, and premiered two plays: High Time Along the Wabash and Hanging Around the Wabash. 

From a Newsreel interview with Saroyan: "The Physical Plant at the Purdue Playshop is first-class, and perhaps one of the best in the Nation: The players I have worked with have been professional caliber and I have enjoyed working with them." 

 

[Thanksgiving: Chicago, Illinois - The Drake Hotel] 

Saroyan came to Chicago from Purdue to spend Thanksgiving with Aram and Lucy. On Thanksgiving day, the family saw a matinee of Bye-Bye Birdie and an evening performance of Night of the Iguana. The next day, they drove to Purdue and the next day saw a run-through of High Times Along the Wabash.

 

 

[Haifa, Isreal]

From Places Where I've Done Time: "And so one year, by that time divorced, broke, up the creek, damaged beyond repair by the war, the Army, an unfortunate marriage, desperation, impulsiveness, gambling, drinking, I decided to visit Isreal, too. A ship stopped at Haifa, and I was told the best hotel in town was the Dan, up on the hill. After that I was settled, I walked down the hill and came to a place with fine gardens inside a high metal fence, and as the gate was open I went in. 

"It was the Bahai Temple."

NOTE: It is unclear if this was a trip taken in 1961 or 1964. In Places Where I've Done Time, it is listed as 1961, though on the list it is listed as 1964. Both these dates seem equally unlikely, so we have listed them under both years as he may also have made two separate visits and confused where he stayed and how he got there. He did travel on cruiselines that featured stops at Haifa often, though it is unclear if he took to land on those cruises. The Dan Carmel was not opened until 1963. 

 

London, England – Savoy Hotel

 

Lisbon, Portugal – Hotel Mundial

 

 

New York – The Gotham

 

 

Streamliner – City of San Francisco

 

Domeliner – City of Los Angeles

 

 

Biarrita – Hotel Regina et du Golf

 

1962

January 4-9: Cunard Superliner RMS Queen Elizabeth – from New York bound for Cherbourg & Southhampton

Saroyan sailed with retiring Soviet Ambassador Mikhail Menshikov on this voyage. Other celebrities on the QE included Paul Palmer, editor of Reader's Digest, and Lorenzo Alvary of the Metropolitan Opera of New York.

 

January 9: Paris, France – Savoy Hotel

Saroyan was in Paris through at least early April, when he saw a production of his play The Ping-Pong Players produced at the American Artists' Centre. He likely took a room at the Savoy to work on writing, as he wrote portions of 

  

[Late June: By Train - The Twentieth Century Limited to the Empire Builder]

William and his daughter Lucy took these trains, stopping in Chicago briefly to see Aram, who was studying at Northwestern. 

Lucy and William also attended the Seattle World's Fair, the Century 21 Exposition. 

 

Possibly August or Late Fall: Hamburg-Atlantik Line SS Hanseatic

From "The Crazy Lady in the Red Bikini" appearing in the April 1966 issue of Argosy: "When we got to our cabin on the Hanseatic, it was half-passed eight and our steward said we could go straight to the dining room for supper because it wouldn't be necessary to be assigned to a table until tomorrow."

It's unclear which direction this trip took Saroyan, or when in the year it happened. The most likely time appears to be August heading from New York to La Havre, though in his story that ran in Argosy, they were traveling from La Havre to New York. The frequency of Saroyan's traveling does leave open the possibility of his going in both directions in the narrow time frame. 

 

 

Late October: SS United States – Southhampton to New York

 

Invicta – British Railways Fleet

 

Paris, France – Hotel Scribe and Hotel George V

 

Stockholm, Sweden – Grand Hotel

November: New York

Saroyan was in New York in November of 1962, though other than notes on theatre programs, there's no clue as to where he stayed. 

He attended several plays, including Little Me starring Sid Caeser, which he attended with his daughter, Lucy. He wrote on his program that he found the play "funny." 

Saroyan also attended the New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles game at Yankee Stadium on November 18th. The Giants won 19-to-14. 

 

[December 31-January 4, 1963: Streamliner – City of San Francisco, Chicago to San Francisco]

 

1963

January-February and Summer: San Francisco

Saroyan moved into the house at 348 Carl st. in San Francisco. Saroyan owned the house, but it was his sister Cosette's full-time home, and he often felt isolated there. He painted a great many paintings there, often more than a dozen a day. 

He wrote the story Me and My Big Gray Horse in San Francisco on January 29th, later to be published in I Used to Believe I Had Forever, Now I'm Not So Sure.

 

 

 

Late January: TS Hanseatic – Hamburg Atlantik Ocean Line “Dreamcruise” St. Croix Virgin Islands

Ports of call for the cruise after leaving New York were Port-Au-Prince (Haiti), Cristobal (Panama), Kingston (Jamaica), Cartagena (Colombia),  San Blas Islands (Panama), St. Thomas & St. Croix (U.S. Virgin Islands). 

 

 

Late February: New York – The San Carlos

 Saroyan stayed at the San Carlos penthouse for several weeks. The San Carlos was located directly across the street from his son Aram's apartment. 

 

Late March/Early April: New York - The Royalton

Saroyan left the San Carlos for the more familiar Royalton a few weeks prior to leaving to spend the summer in San Francisco. 

 

Singapore – Raffles Hotel

 

Paris, France – Hotel Drouot

It is slightly confusing on this one. Saroyan was known to attend auctions at times, and the Hôtel Drouot is a large auction house in Paris. There is also the Hotel Opera Drouot in the 9th Arrondissement which may have been the hotel where he stayed. 

 

The American Church in Paris

 

Maroc – Hotel Rif

 

Royal Air Maroc: Paris to Tangiers

This may have been where Saroyan met Paul Bowles decades after their failed attempt at creating Opera, Opera.

 

Domeline – City of Los Angeles

 

The Crescent – Railroad New York to New Orleans

 

[July 26th: Las Vegas, Nevada - the Flamingo]

 

Early August: Tahoe, California

 Saroyan and his cousin Archie went to Lake Tahoe to gamble. Archie won, and Willy lost. 

 

[Early August: Mount Rushmore]

 

[August 9: Yellowstone National Park] 

While it's not certain whether or not he stayed there, he collected several postcards and some stationary from the Old Faithful Inn.

 

[~September 18: The 20th Century Limited - New York to Chicago]

 

[October 20-mid-November: SS Hanseatic - New York to Southampton] 

From Saroyan's Travel Notes: "Sun Nov 3 1963 425 PM, Tangier Morocco The Hanseatic failed to stop in Tangier, leaving me stranded: broke, without toilet articles, or a change of clothes - just great." 

The ship made stops at St. Croix, Tenerife, Casablanca, Tangier, Palma de Mallorca, Genoa, Malta, Alexandria, Port Said, Beirut, Haifa, Rhodes, Piraeus, Palermo, Lisbon and Cuxhaven.

Written on an invitation from Ernst Langlott for a cocktail party on October 23rd: "11:15 to 12 noon 2 bloody marys, Miss Bernadine Sloane, C.A. Peterson (photog) + girl, small moustache boy, All American also Cornelisen"

Saroyan created dozens of drawings while on the cruise. They were drawn on everything from the ship's letterhead stationary to matchbook covers.

 

October 22-23: Kingston, Jamaica – The Royal Caribbean Hotel & Sea Club

Note from Saroyan's travel documents: "Tuesday October 22 1963 11am Kingston Jamaica looking for a Dentist - girl at Myrtle Bank Hotel recommended Ben Machado, who installed the reserve cap at 12:20pm.  

 

December 3rd: Paris, France – La Grand Cercle

Saroyan gambled frequently in Paris, and was known to win and lose large amounts, often putting himself in financial straights. 

 

1964

May 1, and 9-17: Istanbul Turkey – Istanbul Hilton

 

 

Early May: Istanbul – Park Oteli, Otel Kismet, Robert College, Marmara Gazaete

Saroyan visited Robert College, a highly competitive secondary school, in Istanbul. There, he was photographed by Sedat Pakay, who was on his way to becoming a famed photographer. 

 

[May 9-16: Car Trip from Istanbul to Bitlis] 

From A Daring Young Man by John Leggett: "In Istanbul, he inquired about reaching Bitlis, applied for the necessary permits, and found three Armenian companions with a car who were willing to make the seven-hundred-mile trip across Turkey. They set off on May 9, driving through steady rain to Ankara, Trabzon, and Erzurum in Armenia."

 

May 16th - Bitlis, Turkey (Historic Armenia)

From Saroyan's journal: "In 1905 my father left Bitlis, in 1964 I went to Bitlis for the first time in my life. In a sense, I returned to Bitlis, as if I were my father himself, after an absense of many years."

This was Saroyan's first visit to the ruins of what had been the traditional Saroyan home, as well as Alexander's Citadel. He met with the Mayor of Bitlis, though he was saddened to discover only one Armenian remained in the city, and he was an old man who was hoping to leave. 

 

[May 17: Muş, Turkey (Historical Armenia)]

From a postcard to Archie Minasian: "Dear old Archie - I am in Mus itself + it is almost as beautiful as Bitlis."

Likely mid-to-late May: Diyarbakır, Turkey - Demir Otel

 It's difficult to determine when Saroyan visited the cities of Diyarbakır and Antalya on this trip. While listed immediately after his visit to Istanbul, it would seem unlikely that his road trip would first take him south to Antalya, then on to Ankara and Trabzon, before heading south again for Diyarbakir, and then back north to Erzurum on the way to Bitlis. It is less clear what sort of trip Saroyan took leaving Bitlis, though, including not being certain what form of transport he took. It does seem more likely that he visited Diyabbakir and Antalya after visiting Bitlis, though. We know he returned to Paris by the first of June.

 

Perhaps Late May: Antalya – Teras Oteli

 

May: Haifa – Cruise 

Saroyan noted that he traveled via The Poseidon Shipping Line. The problem with that is that Poseidon did not operate any ships to Haifa in May, though Saroyan specifically noted that he visited in May, and there are some artifacts that hint towards a Haifa visit, notably stationary from the Dan Carmel, but the date or dates are uncertain.

 

June 1: Paris, France – La Grand Cercle 

  

 [June 9: Boston - Fenway Park]

Saroyan attended the New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox baseball game. The Red Sox won 5-to-2.

 

[Mid-July to Mid-October: Fresno, California - The Californian Hotel]

From Places Where I've Done Time: "North of the famous Roeding Park just off Highway 99 I came to a small tract of houses - brandnew and cheap. I decided to have a look at them, so I stopped, and a big overgrown boy with a Lithuanian name took me around to see various houses, some finished, some almost finished, some half-finished, and quite a few just started." 

From a postcard to Archie Minasian, Wed, October 14, 1964: "Dear Arch - went to the Fresno Fair opening day (with Mihran + Varaz), 2nd day alone, 5th day (free) with Yep Moradian - horse races - didn't pay in, didn't bet - Yes, it's a great summer."

Saroyan purchased the house at 2729 West Griffith Way in Fresno in 1964. He'd use that, along with his Paris apartment, as his primary residence for the rest of his life. He paid $13,500 for the house. 

 

 

Ankaram Turkey - Otel Barikan

 

Hacibektas, Turkey 

Saroyan appeared on the Hacibektas Gecesi Programi, a late night talk show. 

 

Bucharest

 

Cunard Line - RMS Queen Mary

 

 

1965

Early May: Fresno – Californian Hotel

Saroyan again attended the Fresno Fine Arts Festival on this visit. 

 

May 14-22: Berlin, Germany – Berolina Hotel

Saroyan attended the International Writer's Meeting in Berlin-Wiemar. Other attendees included Pablo Naruda, Sid Chaplin, and Herbert Otto. 

 

 

Late May: Paris – Hotel Lancaster

  

September 9: San Francisco – Travelodge at the Wharf

 

[September 18-21: San Francisco Chief train - San Francisco to New York.]

 

[September 25: Reykjavic, Iceland - Hotel Saga]

Saroyan stayed a night in Iceland, flying between New York and Paris.

 

[October 1: Air France flight - Paris to Beirut]

 

[October 9: Haifa, Isreal - Arrived via the SS Shalom, Stayed at the Dan Carmel]

This is the only visit to Haifa with strong evidence of being where and when Saroyan claimed the visit took place. He certainly did stay at the Dan Carmel on October 9th, per a receipt among the Saroyan papers at Stanford, and he traveled via the SS Shalom. 

 

October 18: Athens, Greece – Athens Hilton

 

 London, England - Mandeville Hotel

 

 

[~November 9th: New York City, The Royalton]

 

1966

[March 18: New York - Hotel St. Regis]

October 16: SS United States - New York to Southampton

 

1967

[June 8: Cambridge, Massachusetts - Holiday Inn Harvard Square]

William and Aram dined at Wursthouse in Harvard Square on this visit. 

 

[June 26: TWA, New York to Paris]

 

Santa Barbara – Encina Motor Lodge

 

 

October 14: Mobile, Alabama: Admiral Semmes Motor Hotel

 

[October 22-30: Las Cruces, New Mexico - Ramada Inn]

 Saroyan was a speaker at the Southwestern Theatre Conference. 

 

Reno, Nevada – Hotel Mapes

 

Clovis, New Mexico

Lafayette, Louisiana

 

 

Houston, Texas – Hotel America

~October 12: Wichita Falls, Texas – Imperial 400 Motel

Saroyan attended the October 12th Tri-State Wrestling show at the 4-H Arena. The Main Event featured NWA United States Tag Team champions Chati Yokouchi and Togo Shikuma taking on Danny Hodge and Skandar Akbar.

 

El Paso, Texas – Sheraton Motor Inn

 

1968

Orange County, California – South Coast Theatre presents The Time of Your Life

 

London – The Savoy Hotel

 

Late Feb/Early March: Santa Fe, New Mexico – Holiday Inn

 

Late Feb/Early March: Moab, Utah – The Desert Lodge

March: Denver Airport, Colorado – Holiday Inn

 

 

March: Durango, Colorado – The Strater Hotel

Saroyan started a college speaking tour, driving his red Kharmin Ghia from Fresno. His first talk was delivered at Fort Lewis School of Agriculture. 

 

March: Stillwater, Oklahoma – Holiday Inn

Saroyan spoke at Oklahoma State University. 

 

 

[March: Edmund, Oklahoma]

Saroyan spoke at Central State College. 

 

April: Dodge City, Kansas

 

April: Garden City, Kansas – Hotel Warren

 

[April: Hot Springs, Arkansas - Velda Rose Hotel]

 

1969

Late February: New York - The Royalton

Saroyan appears to have made several visits to New York in 1969, staying at multiple hotels. He visited MoMA multiple times on this visit in February, at least once to see an exhibition of stills from lost films and also attended film screenings at MoMA on February 13 and 26. He also saw several plays, including Cock-a-Doodle-Dandy starring Barry Bostwick and Donald Moffat.

 

Yerevan – Martiros Saryan Museum

 

Paris – Atlantic Hotel

Though he was living in Paris at the time, he often took personal time away from his apartment to stay at hotels, which he found conducive to his writing practice. Here, he wrote several stories, including portions of Places Where I've Done Time. 

~May 5-23: Soviet Danube Steamship Line - Vienna to Russe

Saroyan sailed on the Soviet Danube Steamship line starting on May 5th. According to his own note on one of the company's pamphlets, he took the river cruise from Vienna, then on to Budapest, where he stayed, and then to Belgrade, and Bucharest. It's clear that he stayed off-ship at several of the cities along the way, and may have taken several different ships that ran regularly along the line. 

From Place Where I've Done Time: "In May of 1969 I decided to travel from my home at 74 Rue Taitbout in Paris to Vienna, and from there to sail the Danube..."

 

 

May 20-21: Vienna – Hotel Schloss Laudon

Saroyan visited designer Josef Foggensteiner on this trip. 

 

[May 23rd: Bratislava, Slovakia - Devin Hotel]

 

[May 24: Budapest, Hungary - Hotel Hungaria]

 

May 25 or 26 through May 27 or 28: Bucharest, Romania: Athenee Palace Hotel

These dates are unclear, though there are several pieces in his travel collection at Stanford's Green Library that indicate he had spent two days in Bucharest at the end of May. 

 

 

~May 29 or 30: Sofia, Bulgaria – Grand Hotel Bulgaria

Saroyan's notes say that he had stayed in Sofia for a day, though did not indicate which day. It's more likely than not that he visited Sofia by train after having completed the Danube river cruise as there are incomplete train tickets for Sofia, though no visible dates. 

 

 

~June 6-11: Athens, Greece - The Athens Hilton

Saroyan left from Athens for Paris on June 11th, though there's no clear date on when he had arrived in Athens as all receipts are undated. He flew from Athens to Paris on the 11th on Air France, flight 145. 

 

September 5-10: London - The Savoy

 

September 10-15: Dublin, Ireland – Hotel Montrose, The Russell Hotel, and probably the Royal Hibernian

On the list of travels, this is listed as Saroyan staying at the Royal Hibernian Hotel, though receipts show that he had stayed at the Hotel Montrose from the 10th through the 13th, and the Russell Hotel on the 12th. He probably stayed at the Hibernian on the 14th and possibly the 13th, as he ate at their well-regarded restaurant for dinner on the 14th and had a dry-cleaning ticket from the Hibernian dated the 13th. 

 

 

September 16 through October: New York City – The Royalton and the California Zephyr

This is another slightly confusing set of trips. We know Saroyan flew from Dublin, through Shannon, to New York on September 15th. We know he checked into the Royalton on the 16th. There are multiple train tickets in the folder that indicate that Saroyan took the California Zephyr from San Francisco to Chicago and the Burlington from Chicago to New York, from September 20 through the 24th. There is also a set from September 29th on the City of San Francisco train leaving Fresno to Los Angeles, and then on to New York on the 29th of September. Both are in the name of William Saroyan, both are dated 1969, and both appear to have been used. While it is possible that he arrived in New York on the 24th, then had immediate business to take care of in Fresno leading him to fly back, then taking the train as his return, this does seem fairly unlikely unless he was leaving immediately to return to Paris and the matters could not wait. This is at least somewhat countered by the fact that he remained in New York through October as there are theatre programs from various dates in October.  It's also possible that the tickets were mismarked and actually the first set were for his trip from New York to San Francisco. These appear to be one (or possibly two) of the rare extended train trips where he kept no notes or journals.

 

 

[Late September or Early October: Chicago, Illinois - The Tuscany]

Saroyan stayed at the Tuscany as the change-over point on his train journey from New York to San Francisco. 

France – Concert Spiritual

This could be a few things, but it's likely referring to either Louis Armstrong's recorded gigs in Paris, or perhaps the Thelonious Monk performances in December. This undated entry isn't clear, but both could be possible, with Armstrong being more likely as it would have been much more in line with Saroyan's musical tastes. 

 

Saroyan’s Travels – 1970 to 1980

The final installment of Saroyan’s travels takes us around the world. He was living his life split between Paris and Fresno, for the most part, but was still traveling, largely in Europe, but also the Middle East, Asia, and several trips to the USSR and Eastern Bloc. 

These final years of Saroyan's life were far from sedentary and were perhaps more about returning to his favorite destinations than before. He took several long, multi-city trips. He flew more often than in previous decades. He was always a frugal traveler, but was especially so on his international voyages. Interestingly, he seemed to do less gambling on his trips in the 1970s, save for attending horse races.  

You may notice that Saroyan did not take any significant trips in 1973. Instead, he spent more time in Fresno and San Francisco.

Entries within square brackets([ ]s) do not appear on the original list, but were found in his writings from that time. 

 

1970

 [February-March: New York City - The Royalton]

William attended the one-man show Charles Aznavour at the Music Box Theatre on this trip.

 

Warsaw, Poland: University of Warsaw

 

1971

February 27-March 3: Lisbon, Portugal - Hotel Estroil Sol, Costa do Sol, March

From Saroyan's Daily Diary, February 27, 1971 - "One hell of a day. I walked on the beach and brought home 28 magnificent rocks to display on the round marble table. Picnic lunch on the terrace. Nap." 

March 3: Flew from Lisbon to JFK airport (New York)

Saroyan rarely flew first class, though did so on this flight. 

[March 3-12: New York - The Royalton]

On March 8th, Saroyan attended the Muhammad Ali vs. Smokin' Joe Frazier World title fight at Madison Square Garden. Saroyan sat ringside, paying $150.00 for seat 2 in row 9. Frazier won the fight and the title. 

On March 11th, Saroyan appeared on The Dick Cavette Show, along with Veronica Lake, Leonard Maltin, and Olin Stockwell. 

October 10: Fresno Fair

Saroyan attended the Fresno Fair with Ed Hagopian and Varaz Samuelian. The trio bet on the horse races, as well enjoying an afternoon of 'fine Fresno food and libations' according to Saroyan's journal for the day. 

 

1972

[March 8-9 and 11: Chicago - Ambassador Hotel]

 

 

March 10: Minneapolis

 Appeared on The Cromie Circle's BookBeat segment. 

[March 12-24: New York - St. Regis]

Appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (March 15), and the Today show and Mike Douglas Show on March 16. 

 

March 24-June 3: Paris - Hotel Scribe and 74 Rue Taitbout

 

 

June 3-6: Venezia - Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal

 

 

June 6-8: Firenze - Savoy Hotel

 

[June 9-14: Brennero - Naples to Beirut}

From Saroyan's Daily Diary - "8:20 A.M. After a fair night's sleep I am up + ready to finish packing + leave this little ship (4000 tons). It has been a good voyage.

 

June 15, 17-30: Beirut, Lebanon - St. George Hotel

From Saroyan's Daily Diary - "Just great. That's all - a beautiful room and a fine hotel in a city of sun and the voices of good working men."

Saroyan delivered the commencement address at Haigazian College on June 27th. On this trip, he also visited the Armenian community that had grown up in the former swamp known as Ainjar. 

 

June 16-17: Aleppo, Syria

From "A Daring Young Man" by John Leggett: "His Haigazian College host, John Markarian, swept him off to Aleppo, in Syria, for an Armenian Day, which seemed to be a Saroyan celebration. He was taken in an embassy car, its 'long horn' making way for him through the villages. The flags, photographers, food, and drink were all out for him."

 

 

July 1 - 4: Tehran, Iran - Park Hotel

Saroyan flew Iran Air to Tehran. Saroyan's visit included having to have a tooth removed, as well as meeting several of the most important figures in Persian arts and literature. 

 

July 5-7: Isfahan, Iran - Hotel Shah Abbas

From Saroyan's Journal - "There is perhaps no spot in the world sweeter in light and air than Isfahan."

 

[July 7-9: Shiraz - Cyrus Hotel]

From Saroyan's journal - "730P.M. Let's see if it works: I ordered Omelet Farmer's Style with cheese and smoked ham: Yoghourt Cyrus Hotel (whatever that is) and a pot of tea with lemon: it should come out to about 150 rials or $2 which is perhaps the lowest price in New York at any hotel." 

NOTE: this was originally attributed to the 'Cyrus Hotel, Isfahan' on the original list, but according to the journal he kept, he stayed at the Cyrus Hotel in Shiraz and the Hotel Shah Abbas in Isfahan immediately prior.

 

July 9-10: New Delhi - Hotel Oberoi Intercontinental

From Saroyan's journal - "8:50 P.M. Well the great Intercontinental Hotels are just a little stingy in the Breakfast, at any rate: two small twisted apparently not very well baked rolls but I didn't phone for more: I ate it all including the two small portions of jelly and the four or five cups of tea with lime, there are no lemons in these parts, it seems: so now I will do some reading and when I get hungry enough I'll phone again this time for an Indian meal, or speciality, or something."

 

July 10-12: Calcutta, India - Ritz Continental

From Saroyan's journal, July 11, 1972 - "11:05 A.M. Steven at the Armenian Church nearby spoke in detail about the Armenian Colony around 400 souls but several organisations and clubs, so I am there as of now."

Saroyan visited the Armenian College & Davidian Girls School, as well as the Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth and its graveyard, dating from 1688. 

 

July 13-16: Hong Kong - Hongkong Hilton

 

July 16-18: Manilla, Philippines - InterContinental Hotel

Saroyan flew Philippines Airlines from Hong Kong to Manilla.

 

July 19-20: Taipei, Taiwan - President Hotel

 

July 20-22: Tokyo Imperial Hotel

 

NOTE: Okinawa, Peking, and Bangkok were all written on the original list.  We've been unable to locate a visit to these stops on this 1972 trip, and have examined the journals written during it. There are no unaccounted-for days, though he did mention that he was passing up visiting Okinawa for an extra day in Tokyo

 

1973

April 16: Palo Alto - Archie Minasian's house

 This appears to be the only night he did not stay in either his San Francisco or Fresno houses in all of 1973. 

 

1974

[March 14 - 17: The San Francisco Zephyr out of Oakland to Chicago]

[March 17: Chicago]

From Saroyan's journal: "I had a kind of nice easy cold visit to the usual streets of Chicago: straight down Adams from Union Station at high noon to the Art Museum."

 

[March 17-18: The Broadway Limited - Chicago to New York

 

March 18-25: New York - The St. Regis.

Saroyan attended several Broadway and off-Broadway shows, perhaps most notably Candide. 

 

June: Paris - Hotel Scribe, Hotel Ritz, others

Saroyan stayed in several hotels during his June visit, despite having his apartment on rue Taitbout. 

 

 

Qualicum Beach, Vancouver Island - British Columbia - Kelsea Bay - No. Central British Columbia, Prince Rupert, Alaska, Yukon

 Saroyan visited British Columbia and drove himself around, including taking the 'Roll-on/Roll-Off Ferry" to Prince Rupert Island

[October 1-9: New York City - The Gorham]

From Saroyan's Journal: "we took a taxi to Melik Ohanesyan's Dardanelles for a magnificent Armenian meal: a mixed appetizer dish for me, a cheese boret on the house, a cup of tarnakah or tahnahbout or yogurt soup on the house, a beautiful tass of turlu guveg vegetables with tender lamb: a large glass of tea no wine to whiskey my choice."

 

November 9 - 10: Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Wisconsin University

Saroyan spoke at Wisconsin University on November 10th, to an audience of about 400. 

 

1975

January 27 - February 6: Manila, Philippines - Philippine Village Hotel

Attended Afro-Asian Writers' Symposium as an Observer. 

 

 

February 7-10: Amsterdam

 

May 19: New York - The Algonquin Hotel - Academy of Arts & Letters induction of Jack Beeson.

 

June 13-19: London - The Tara Hotel

[June 19-21: Edinburgh - North British Hotel]

 

June 23-25: Shannon, Ireland - Shannon International Hotel

June 25-28: Dublin, Ireland - Ormond Hotel

Visited Spanish Point Donkey Stud on June 26

 

[June 28-July 1: Boston: The Ritz-Carlton]

From Saroyan's Journal: "And so one phase of the momentus year 1975 has ended another has begun: I am in the hotel I visited in October 1939 with the Theatre Guild and with Ross Bagdasarian sharing my room: it was on a top floor but it overlooked the Public Park as it was called just across the street adjoining the Commons"

July: New York - The St. Regis Sheraton

On July 8th, Saroyan ate Hungarian Meatball Stew at Pot Au Feu

 

 

June 29-July 12 New York - The Gotham Hotel

From Saroyan's Journal: "Visited Lucy 1:15-2:15pm at her apartment.That's it, so I now slowly move to San Francisco for a few days. Hurrah."

Saroyan attended several Broadway shows, including The Wiz, which he enjoyed. 

 

1976

[April 14-16: Tallahassee, Florida]

From Saroyan's journal: "Up after a good sleep (after a soak and shower), shave, wash, phone calls, meet the cast at Jerry's."

Saroyan was at Florida State University to speak and to see a production of The Time of Your Life.

 

May 26 - 27: Flew from Paris to Miami 

 

May 27-June 2: Miami, Florida

 

 

[October 9: Fresno Fair]

 

[October 10: LA Airport (likely LAX)]

NOTE: Saroyan says he had seat 7A on a PSA flight, though he doesn't note the destination! We do know he landed at Heathrow on October 11th, though PSA did not fly there.

October 11: London - Heathrow 

From Saroyan's journal: "In through Customs & Official rigmarole. 11 hours to wait. So what? I'll wait, hurrah."

 

October 12-14: Helsinki, Finland - Inter-continental Hotel

 

[October 14-17: Moscow, National Hotel]

You can read about Saroyan's 1976 visit to Moscow on our blog - https://www.foreversaroyan.com/here-begins-the-travel-chronicle-saroyan-s-journal-oct-1976

[October 13: Leningrad: Astoria Hotel]

October 17-29: Erevan, Armenia - Armenia Hotel

Attended films at the Armenian Filmmakers Union, visited numerous friends. 

[October 30: Odessa - Adjaria Harbor Hotel]

November 1 - Adjaria: Odessa to Athens

 

[November 2: Athens, Greece - Grande Bretagne]

November 3-9: New York - The Gorham Hotel

Saroyan attended the revival of Porgy & Bess. 

 

 

[May 6: Boston]

Attended Armenian General Benevolent Union's A Tribute to Armenian Poetry event. 

 

1977

June 11: Bulgaria - Sofia - Bulgarian International Writers' Conference Moscow Park Hotel Varna

 

 

September 17-19: Napoli - Hotel de Londres & Ambadciatori

 

October 22: Paris - Hotel Scribe

 

November 27-30: Detroit - Detroit Plaza Hotel

 Saroyan attended a reception at The Detroit Club for The Best of Times, a book compilation of The Ford Times, which includes the Saroyan story. "My Favorite Town - Fresno, California"

 

[September 19-24: Port Grimaud, France - Archie Babayan's home]

From Saroyan's journal: "it has been one hell of a gorgeous visit"

September 30 - October 6: Vienna - Hilton Vienna

Saroyan originally listed this visit as having stayed at "Hotel Bristol, Hotel Capricorno," though his journal doesn't indicate a stay at either hotel. 

[October 6-10: Munich - The Four Seasons

In his journal, Saroyan continually wrote variations on the German words for 'Four Seasons' 'Vier Jahreszeiten' as the hotel name, spelling it several different ways in the 6 pages of entries. 

 

October 10-13: Berlin, Germany - Berlin Hilton

From Saroyan's journal: "And it is madness to pay so much money for such a crummy place, but forget it, if I was gambling I would really be up there in the thousands in the matter of an hour or less, so go along with the program and make the most of it." 

Saroyan flew Pan-Am to Berlin.

 

October 13-16 : Wiesbaden - Forum Hotel

From Saroyan's journal, October 14: "The wine and coffee and talk and people of tension and all the rest of it got to me on the walk to the Bahnhof, but I had a weak chocolate milkshake there, and that rather settled matters, at least enough for me to permit me to endure the 45-minute ride, after a 25-minute wait, and now I am hungry and I shall go eat---or dine. Yo." 

Saroyan concluded the trip flying to Paris on Lufthansa out of Frankfort.  

 

1978

January/February: Paris - Le Grand Hotel 

 

 

~August 8 - August 11: Washington DC - Dupont Plaza Hotel (The Madison)

NOTE: Saroyan's journal for the month of August feature several undated entries. We did locate three pages that talk about Washington DC, and he certainly did leave on the 11th, as indicated on his travel documents.

  

September: Emporia, Kansas

Saroyan gave a talk at Emporia State University.

 

September 30-October 1: London - Savoy Hotel

 

 

[October 3-8: Aboard the Alexandre Pushkin to Leningrad]

From Saroyan's journal: "And so the ship sails on, so to put it: the news was in Russian and I was unable to make out what it came to, at all: but that's all right, and i shall move along into the day, now."

[October 8-10: Leningrad, USSR - The Astoria Hotel]

From Saroyan's journal - "I am drinking tea in Leningrad and it is fine: Galina Cilina married to Simon Playwrightasked me to sign two tattered books in Russian one to encourage productions of her husband's plays and so I did: Natasha Babina a sweet little girl at the Hermitage took us about and explained the treasures: The Embassy had called Galina about contacting me and was to call her and me at the Hermitage."

October 10-11: Moscow, USSR - Hotel National

 

[October 11-November 6: Erivan, Armenia - Armenia Hotel]

You can read about the Erivan portion of this trip in our blog post: https://www.foreversaroyan.com/saroyan-in-armenia-1978

 

[November 6-11: Odessa, Ukraine - Black Sea Hotel, Odessa Hotel]

From Saroyan's journal - "Room 602 Black Sea Hotel Odessa Ukraine Russia 1:25 P.M. The 61st Anniversary of the Revolution is concluding in Odessa, but is in progress on TV: this is quite a good small suite, and although I might have a suite in the famous hotel the Odessa tomorrow. I may choose to stay right here."

Saroyan left the Black Sea Hotel for the Odessa Hotel on November 8th.

 

[November 11-17: The Adjaria out of Odessa, Ukraine, to Alexandria, Egypt]

From Saroyan's Journal: "Cabin 100 Adjaria Tuesday November 14 1978 8 A.M. to Larnaca And so the ship rolls on, the man will announce breakfast and say good appetite in a moment, and I shall clear the head and get to it. That's it; here he is."

The Adjaria made calls at Pireaus (Athens) Greece, on November 13, Larnaca, Cyprus, on November 14, and Latakia, Syria, on November 15.  

 

 

November 17-19:  Cairo, Egypt - Le Meridien

From Saroyan's journal: "The room is LE100, or about $150 a day, I presume: I can well afford it, if I want to, and I don't, but we will see." 

Saroyan disembarked at Alexandria and immediately headed to the Meridien in Cairo. 

 

1979

June 7: Bucharest, Romania - International Writers' Conference

Delivered a speech at the conference. Other attendees included Saroyan's friend John Cheever.

 

 
[June 10: Belgrade - Hotel MOSKVA]

Saroyan gave several interviews and a lecture to various writiers groups on his 19 hour visit to Belgrade.

 

June 11-17: Sofia, Bulgaria - Hotel Vitosha/The New Otani, Novotel Plovdiv

Saroyan attended the 18th Congress of the International Theater Institute at the Park Hotel MOSKVA

He stayed at several different hotels, and complained bitterly about the cost of his accommodations.

 

 

1980

[May 13-14: Mainz, Germany - Roemerwall Hotel]

 

May 15-28: Warsaw - Europejski Hotel 

Saroyan attended the International Writers' Meeting as an honored guest. Other guests included Joyce Carol Oates, Susan Sontag, John Ashberg and Raymond Smith)

His itinerary says on the 28th he leaves for Prague, but the tickets say Saroyan leaves via Paris for Vienna on the 28th.

 

 

[~June 1 to 6 - Budapest]

 

 

[June 6-10: Bucharest - Continental Hotel]

 

 [June 28-July 1 - Vienna - Premiere of Play Things]

Saroyan attended Play Things, the last of Saroyan's plays to premiere during his lifetime. The program and sets featured art by Pop Art legend Andy Warhol.

Saroyan flew Austrian Airlines from DeGaulle to Vienna and back. These were Saroyan's final flights prior to returning to the United States, where he would pass away in 1981.