The lure of fame often draws individuals to an event which, under normal circumstances, many would overlook. The case of the Human Comedy screening was no different: the name ?Mickey Rooney? resulted in a turnout of hundreds.

The classic 1943 film played at the Tower Theatre as part of the ongoing William Saroyan Centennial Celebration on April 25. Rooney, a prolific actor starring in over 360 movies, introduced the film and expounded on his involvement in it.

?It is a sterling picture,? Rooney said. ?It was an honor for me to do this picture by a man we all revere; The Human Comedy was one of Saroyan?s best.?

Though many attended for the opportunity to see Rooney, the motivation behind the event lay in a desire to honor William Saroyan?s life and impact.

?Saroyan has put Fresno on the map in a literary sense,? John Kallenberg, chairman of the William Saroyan Society, said. ?His work, much of which is about life in the Central Valley, is important for us and others to know what we?re all about.?

Of all the renowned works of Saroyan, The Human Comedy, both the novel and film version, remains among the best loved and most widely circulated story because of its infinite applicability.

?In addition to the fun of a young boy growing up, it?s set in a time of war,? Kallenberg said. ?It?s a human drama that plays out through the messages of soldiers who died during the war. This is always relevant during a state of war and is therefore relevant to our society today.?

While the screening offered an opportunity to see and appreciate a movie often forgotten because of its age, it also provided an occasion to remember Saroyan.

Although the presence of Rooney offered the rare opportunity to meet a star, as the evening continued, the true importance of the event became clear.

The value was not in the program autographed by Rooney but rather in the attempt to answer an age-old question: how should a life be remembered?

Fresno?s Centennial Celebration has sought to supply an answer. Through the organization of events ranging form art shows to lectures, the group has provided activities in honor of Saroyan.

Despite these attempts, the celebration still seems to fall short of Saroyan’s legacy. Ed Galdrikian, a journalism adviser for 25 years at Washington Union, knew Saroyan personally and states the author was not one to bask in approval.

?He didn?t care about prizes or winning anything,? Galdrikian said. ?When he won the Pulitzer Prize [for the play The Time of Your Life] he turned it down. The Academy Award he won for the screenplay for The Human Comedy was later found in a pawnshop in San Francisco. He specifically asked for nothing to be named after him, but there is the theater and a school in the Central district.?

With this in mind, the presence of an award-winning actor or the pageantry associated with the show seems hardly to fit into Saroyan?s conception of himself or his desires for the future.

In deliberating how Saroyan?s legacy should be honored, a solution appears when the author himself is considered.

?Saroyan was friendly to everyone and enjoyed life to the fullest,? Galdrikian said. ?Deep down I think he wanted to meet everybody in the world and have a talk with them. He had a great love of humanity and anything that breathes life.?

Perhaps to best honor Saroyan, one must follow in his footsteps: to drink deeply of life and care little of what labels the world attaches.

?In the time of your life, live – so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite variety and mystery of it,? wrote Saroyan.

If people fashion their lives after Saroyan’s philosophy, his legacy will continue on under more fitting tributes.

To learn more about Saroyan’s unpublished work “Follow”, visit Fresno Bee.