They Call Me Zarko

Born in Bulgaria in 1927, Ghazaros Demirdjian was the son of displaced Armenian immigrants who had escaped the genocide (1915-1923). Ghazaros knew there was a better life out there for him. He loved John Wayne movies and dreamed of moving to America. With a developed sixth sense (which he credits to have learned from Romanian Gypsies) he knew it could be done, and finally embarked on a journey fraught with such peril that only the most determined could have survived. From imprisonment in both Iraq and Iran, to the honor killing of a Turkish infidel, to arson in a fight with the mafia, this is the true story of how an Armenian born into abject poverty somehow made it to Hollywood and created a fortune in the American trash business. He achieved the American Dream, his dream, of a successful business, a full table, and a loving family who now bask in the glow of his love and legacy. They couldn't pronounce his name, so they called him Zarko.