Hamid Ran dreamed of becoming a journalist. From a young age, he was an adamant reader. Given the opportunity to work at a daily newspaper in Tehran, he accepted six months without pay, just to get his foot in the door.
Because Ran lived under the Islamic Republic of Iran, his profession quickly became dangerous. Reporting on the Public Transportation Bus Drivers Union, the first major union to form after the Islamic Revolution, he was blacklisted. Newspapers throughout the country were told by the government they would be shut down — a common occurrence at the time — if they published anything Ran wrote, on any topic.
Today, from his home in New Castle, Ran is proud to present “Before the West: First Light on Unknown Lands.” This memoir details his arduous journey as a refugee from Iran to Turkey and, eventually, the United States. Within its pages, Ran recounts the hardship of leaving family and home, likely forever, and having one’s life at the mercy of bureaucratic systems in a foreign land.
“Every immigrant understands this conflict. When you leave a country without the possibility of returning, the emotional cost is enormous,” Ran writes, describing interwoven feelings of joy and fear, hope and heartbreak. Early in the book, he describes his final night in Zanjan, his hometown, writing, “My eyes were wide open as I tried to memorize every single inch of those streets.”
At the age of 31, in 2008, Ran left Zanjan. He was temporarily relocated to Niğde, Turkey, where he fell in love with the culture and the people. “Even the birds sensed they were freer here,” he writes.
Ran’s book offers insight into life under an oppressive regime. Imagine being arrested for carrying a book by a specific author, or spending days in a military prison for getting spotted making tea before sundown during Ramadan. Imagine as a woman having to always cover your head with a scarf. “People were forced to live with two personalities: one at home, and one outside,” he reflects.
The book was published on Feb. 7, 2026, less than a month before the United States and Israel attacked Iran with coordinated airstrikes, initiating a new war. “I am happy that the Ayatollah is dead and that the other leaders are dead,” Ran told The Sopris Sun in an interview. “But on the other hand, I really don’t think that war is the solution.”
In one chapter, Ran explains how his childhood was destroyed by a war between Iran and Iraq. He remembers living in constant fear — “fear of bombs falling, fear of dying, fear that my family or friends might die.” He writes, “War is a game of money and power, played by a few, paid for by millions.”
Ran believes firmly that “the entire world is made of citizens of this planet.” He writes, “There is no difference between a child born in Iran and a child born in America; we don’t choose where we are born. Yet the people in power choose whether we live in peace or grow up in fear.”
Now employed by Pitkin County Human Services, Ran is already working on part two of his memoir, picking up where his journey to the United States begins after nearly two years of living in Turkey while his application was being processed.
Born to illiterate parents, this man has written a memoir in English, his fourth language. It is poetically composed and charged with emotional vulnerability. Moments of friendship, wonder and perseverance uplift the narrative as Ran discovers the kindness of strangers and the magic of trusting a great unknown. Join the author at Barnes & Noble in Glenwood Springs on April 4, from 2 to 4pm, for the opportunity to purchase a copy and hear stories first-hand.
This week’s Everything Under The Sun, March 26 at 4pm on KDNK, will feature an interview with Ran about the book and the war currently unfolding.