Jack and I knew about David Kherdian and Nonny Hogrogian long before ever meeting them. Last summer we caught up with David in Massachusetts. Nonny had died in May of 2024. Here is our interview with David about his poetry and Nonny’s illustrations.
Initially we heard about them because they ran Two Rivers Press at Mrs. Staveley’s work community in Oregon. David was a poet and Nonny an illustrator. I’ve always loved the sweet children’s book they wrote, Right Now.
At one point, David spent time at Claymont giving writing workshops. I would have gone if I hadn’t been working weekends. Later, David donated a printing press to Claymont and Jack helped move it from Charlottsville, Virginia, where David and Nonny were living at the time.
But It was in Chatham, NY, where we really connected with them. David had heard we were in town visiting my sister and invited us for lunch. Nonny had just completed her newest book, The Tiger of Turkestan. Armenian, they were about twenty years older than we were, sophisticated and wise. I was impressed when they put a bottle of red wine on the table at mid-day, obviously a staple of their cuisine.
David looked to me like a dour old man, but then he would laugh and his whole face would light up. Nonny struck me as quiet and shy, totally devoted to David. Another individualistic work couple to add to our store of friends. They told us they were moving back to Wisconsin, where David was from. They had found an assisted living place to retire to.
Some years later in Asheville, we decided at the last minute to go to a Christmas service with our daughter’s family at a Unitarian church. As people were filing in, Jack nudged me, saying he thought he saw David Kherdian. I knew that was impossible since they were living in Wisconsin. We didn’t even know if they were still alive.
Unbelievably, we found the two of them in the Fellowship Hall after the service.
David said he and Nonny had decided they weren’t ready to die. So they packed up the car and drove cross-country to Asheville, which he’d always been curious about. Having recently arrived, they decided that morning to go to the Unitarian Church across the street.
We came to know David and Nonny much better in the ensuing few years they remained in Asheville before moving on again.
David is still writing poems and Nonny’s legacy lives on as you will hear from the interview (link.)