By David Luhrssen
Dawn Anahid MacKeen grew up hearing stories of her grandfather’s survival. Like many Armenians, Stepan Miskjian was marched into the desert under the brutal prodding of Turkish police with little hope of staying alive. But he eventually made his way to the New World after being sheltered by an Arab Muslim sheikh, a tribal leader in Syria who saved other Armenians as well.
MacKeen’s grandfather left behind a memoir of his experience that became the inspiration for her own journey. In 2007 MacKeen, a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Smart Money and elsewhere, set forth for Turkey and Syria to retrace her ancestor’s steps. The book that resulted from her journey, The Hundred-Year Walk, is a well-documented and written account of the Genocide and her grandfather’s quest to live. The New York Post called The Hundred-Year Walk a “must read.”
For its 2017 Culture Month event, St. John the Baptist Armenian Church will present Dawn Anahid MacKeen, 1:15 p.m., Sept. 17 at St. John’s Culture Hall. A light luncheon will be served before her talk begins. Admission is Free. General public is welcome.
Milwaukee Armenians 