My name is George Pararas-Carayannis and these Pages are under continuous construction and updating. They include some of my miscellaneous, published and unpublished non-technical writings, poems, short stories and articles - a few of which I wish to share. Although I am a scientist and publish mostly technical articles, papers and books, I enjoy the arts and writing poetry and articles on things that interest me.
Some of my poems in English have been featured in the International Poetry Hall of Fame, the National Library of Poetry or published in miscellaneous anthologies. Other poems - in my native language (Greek) - have been published in the "Greek Letters" or other literary publications.
For more than 25 years I had the good fortune of being an active member of the National Society of Arts and Letters (NSAL), an outstanding national organization in USA which encourages and assists promising young artists through arts competitions, scholarships and other career opportunities - poetry and short stories being among the categories of competition. I served as officer of the National Organization and of its Hawaii Chapter, as well as one of the judges for some of the literary competitions that are held around the country. Being around the truly creative people and artists of NSAL, also inspired me to try to improve on my own writing skills in English - which is not my native language - and to continue to write poetry in English and Greek.
Also, I am interested in archaeology, ancient civilizations, the protection of world heritage cultural sites and in legends and myths that relate to ancient disasters. I believe that myths and legends have resulted from catastrophic events that actually have occurred. For example, most ancient civilizations have legends related to a catastrophic flood attributed to the wrath of Gods (i.e. Deukalion's deluge, Noah's flood). Other legends refer to the destruction of ancient civilizations (i.e. destruction of Atlantis in Plato's dialogs of Timaeus and Critias) or catastrophes of ancient cities (catastrophe of Helike in 373 B.C., described by Pausanias). Thus I have spent time going over the original texts of ancient Greek writers, translating pertinent passages and reading between the lines or interpreting what they state as to what may have happened. Thus, I begun visiting and doing some field investigations of archaeological sites (primarily in Greece) and also begun developing pages on DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY at my website related to DISASTERS. Portal Links to major categories of these sites are provided in the Navigation Menu on the left column. Also, on th left columns I have listed portal links to some of my Miscellaneous Writings, which include Poems in English and Greek, Short Stories, Miscellaneous Articles, Summaries on Chronic Illnesses.
I have included Pages on Lela Carayannis - Greece's national heroine and on the Bouboulina Resistance Organization, which she begun in 1941 to fight Nazi aggression, the occupation of Greece and to help Allied Forces in the Middle East. Parenthetically I wish to add that the Bouboulina Resistance Organization was continued as a Greek National Organization in the post World War II era, by my stepfather Byron Carayannis, members of my family and other World War II, surviving resistance fighters. My uncle George Carayannis, a hero of the resistance, brother of my stepfather Byron and only surviving son of Lela Carayannis, is the President of the National Organization. I have been assigned the responsibility of representing the national orgnanization internationally, and to publish facts related to its mandate and current functions of preserving Lela Carayannis' memory and making known her heroism and love of country that led to her cruel torture and execution by the Nazis - along with 71 others her resistance fighters - on September 8, 1944, only two weeks before their retreat from occupied Greece. The "Bouboulina - Lela Carayannis" Resistance Organization, established by Lela Carayannis herself originally in 1941, is the only registered national organization, officially recognized to this day by the Greek Government and its ministries.
The following is a listing of general categories to some of my miscellaneous writings, with link portals provided on the left column.
POEMS ("My Journey West") - Selected Poems from a Book under preparation; FOREWORD; MISC. SHORT STORIES ND OTHER ARTICLES; POEMS IN GREEK; MISC. ARTICLES ON SOCIAL INJUSTICES; MISCELLANEOUS SUMMARIES ON CHRONIC ILLNESSES
LELA CARAYANNIS (Bouboulina Organization) - A Tribute to Greece's National Heroine
In addition, I have provided portal links to my other websites and to the website of Tsunami Society International of which I am the current president and of "SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS" a scholarly, peer reviewed internationa journal, of which I am the present Editor and Publisher.
