THE MURDER OF GREEK STRONGMAN GUST LESSIS by Steve Frangos published in The National Herald March 21, 2020 The National Herald has given HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- Few Greek strongmen have had as eventful a career in North America as Gust Lessis. For at least 13 years, as vaudevillian strongman, wrestler, boxer, and circus midway strongman Lessis successfully crisscrossed the United States. Unfortunately, newspaper accounts vary so markedly in their content on the facts of Lessis' life and professional career, that it is often difficult to clearly see this man's life even in broad detail, let alone agreed-upon documented fact. Nonetheless, such a disciplined athlete whose public performances served a host of charitable causes as much as they did his personal career deserves more attention than simply the inclusion of his name in some mere listing...

STRONGMAN GUST LESSIS: THE GREEK-AMERICAN SAMSON by Steve Frangos Published in The National Herald March 7, 2020 Thank you to The National Herald for giving HellenicGenealogyGeek.com permission to post articles that are of interest to our group. -------------------------------------------- Without question Gust Lessis occupies one of the most unique roles in the history of Greek strong men in North America. In the very early 1920s, when Lessis first became widely known to the American public, the fabled strongmen of the 1890s had already astonished the world with their incredible feats of superhuman strength. Beginning with the legendary Eugene Sandow and quickly followed by George Hackenschmidt, Louis Cyr, and Louis Apollon audiences around the world were in equal measure thrilled and astonished by these legendary strongmen as they executed in full public view what were then called 'demonstrations of strength.' Such were the feats of strength Less...

The Greek Genocide in American Naval War Diaries: Naval Commanders Report and Protest Death Marches and Massacres in Turkey's Pontus Region, 1921-1922 by Savvas "Sam" Koktzoglou (Editor), Robert Shenk (Editor), James Starvridis (Foreword) Published February 29, 2020 by University of New Orleans Press This book is a gripping collection of American naval war diaries recently found in the National Archives about what was happening on the northern coast of Turkey in 1921-1922. At the time, a series of American destroyers were continuously stationed at the port of Samsun, and the destroyer captains describe here many of the atrocities then being perpetrated upon the Asia Minor Greek minority by the ruling Nationalist Turks, along with local Greek reactions. Available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble

The following was posted on the Modern Greek Studies Mailing List ------------------- I would like to share a project that I and two colleagues have been developing about WWII monuments in Epirus. The interactive gallery, catalog and map is a work in progress, currently documenting 20 memorials. It is linked from Hollins University Library’s Digital Projects page, https://digitalexhibits.hollins.edu/collections/show/1 Mark Mazower states that “ the Second World War remains invisible for the visitors who flow into Greece during the summer, relaxing on the sunny beaches or getting accustomed to the ancient ruined temples and theaters” ( Inside Hitler’s Greece , 1994, p. 407). We hope this exhibit is a step toward reversing the invisibility. Christopher J. Richter Associate Professor Communication Studies Hollins University PO Box 9652 Roanoke, VA 24020