In December of 1978, Catherine Yesayan, her husband, and her young daughter flew from Tehran to London for the Christmas holiday. They woke up in their hotel room the next morning to hear a radio announcement of the eruption of the Islamic Revolution and realized they could never return home.
Born into a middle-class Armenian family in Tehran, Catherine Yesayan grew up during Iran’s halcyon days of the 1960s and 70s under the progressive-minded Shah Reza Pahlavi. The Shah’s policies, unfortunately, didn’t sit well with the clergy, which led to the 1979 Iranian Revolution. This abruptly ended Catherine’s peaceful upbringing, forcing Catherine and her family to relocate to the United States, and eventually settle in Glendale, California. There, Catherine nurtured a growing family and assisted in her husband's real estate business. Her journey as a writer began with a blog on Armenian history, along with sharing memories of her childhood and early adulthood in Iran. In 2011, she became a columnist for the Asbarez newspaper, writing engaging reports of her extensive travels to Armenian communities worldwide, most recently to New Zealand. “I have eight or nine countries left that I must visit!” she says. Catherine's debut memoir, A Woman, A Revolution, A Journey, opens in a London hotel room at the very moment Catherine realizes that her life has just changed forever. It details what happened next – a four-and-a-half decade adventure in the United States during which this multi-talented woman has blossomed. Catherine, also an artist, created the jaunty self-portrait on the front cover that reflects the author’s humorous, bemused style, and fresh way of looking at the world.