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 They include some of my miscellaneous, published and unpublished non-technical writings, poems, short stories and articles - which I wish to share. Although I am a scientist and publish mostly technical articles, papers and books, I enjoy the arts, poetry and writng articles about things that interest me.
Although English is not my native language, 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) - were published long ago, 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 art competitions, with scholarships and other career opportunities. Poetry and short stories are 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 and to continue to write poetry in both English and Greek.
Other areas of interest for me are arearchaeology, ancient civilizations, the protection of world heritage cultural sites and legends and myths that relate to ancient disasters. I believe that myths and legends have resulted from catastrophic events that actually have occurred in the distant past. 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 some of my 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 actually happened. Also, I begun visiting and doing field investigations of some archaeological sites (primarily in Greece) and begun developing pages on DISASTER ARCHAEOLOGY at my website related to ancient disasters. Portal Links to major categories of these sites are provided in the Navigation Menu on the left column of this page. Also, on the left column I have listed portal links to some of my Miscellaneous Writings, which include Poems in English and Greek, Short Stories, Miscellaneous Articles and, among other things, Medical Summaries on Chronic Illnesses, which I prepared under contract for the Regenesis Medical Center in Hawaii.
I have included Pages on Lela Carayannis (Karayannis)- 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 father Byron and older son of Lela Carayannis, became President of the National Organization, after my father Byron's death. Admiral Alexandros Papadogkonas of the Greek Navy and retired diplomat Mr. Spyridon Kinias are the Vice-Presidents of the "Lela Carayannis - Bouboulina National organization. The Governing Council assigned me the responsibility of representing the orgnanization internationally and of publishing 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. Grandmother Lela was executed on September 8, 1944 with 71 others her resistance fighters - only two weeks before the retreat of German troops 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 other 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, 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 on disasters - both natural and man-made - and on varied research I have conducted over the years. Also provided is a link to the website of Tsunami Society International, of which I am the current President and of "SCIENCE OF TSUNAMI HAZARDS"- a scholarly, peer reviewed, award-wining international scholarly journal, of which I am the Editor and Publisher.
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