On April 24, 2021 the United States recognized the 1915 Armenian Genocide. Longtime Sanibel resident Steve Avakian talked about the subject with the Island Scene magazine. This article first appeared in the 2018 issue of Island Scene magazine and is reprinted here.

Sanibel resident Steve Avakian has lived a quintessentially American life, and it means all the more to him in light of the fate of three of his grandparents, who perished in the Armenian genocide.
Avakian and his wife, Laura, commissioned island artist Myra Roberts to memorialize his grandparents with an original oil on canvas painting that captures the escape of his surviving grandmother through the Syrian desert.
The painting was featured in the “Dream Peace” Art Exhibit at the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center in January, 2018. It was a moving experience for them to see the reaction of guests as they came upon the painting for the first time. “They would get real close to it, read the inscription, and shake their heads,” said Avakian. “You could see what a powerful effect it had on them.”
The painting now hangs in their Sanibel home on the west end of the island. “It is so important in our corner of the world to do our best to make sure these people are not forgotten,” said Avakian. “Myra is a scholar as well as an artist — she did her homework, and did a great job.”
Avakian cites a famous exchange of Hitler with his generals, who told the Fuhrer he was crazy to take the political risk of exterminating Polish citizens. Hitler replied that he did not fear a backlash – “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
Avakian was born in New York City in 1945 to Yervant and Acabie Avakian, who both emigrated to the United States. “My mother just loved America,” said Avakian. “My father would have tears in his eyes at election time, he would say, ‘Steve, what a country this is that you can vote for someone to represent you.’ There were always conversations at the dinner table about the Armenian genocide, they called it the Armenian massacre, the word genocide was not used until after World War II.”
The term genocide was coined in 1943 by Raphael Lemkin to describe the systematic killing of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915-1922 by the Ottoman government, including women, children and elderly who were deported by military escorts through the arid sands of Syria without food or water in death marches. Roberts took these death marches as the subject of her painting, placing the heroic Aurora Mardiganian, often referred to as the Armenian Joan of Arc, in the forefront. It was on such a trail of blood and tears that Avakian’s grandmother miraculously fled to safety, ending up in Beirut, Lebanon. The Avakians are proud to be able to tell her story through the painting and to remind the world that genocides can and do occur.
Before moving to Sanibel Island, the Avakians lived for many years in Ohio and Massachusetts. Steve joined the Cleveland Press in 1968 and then worked for a chain of Sun newspapers as a political reporter. He got to know Astronaut John Glenn and ended up serving as Glenn’s campaign manager during his successful 1980 election to the U.S. Senate.
“It was fascinating to work for a celebrity,” said Avakian. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Is he really that true blue?’ And I would say yes, he is a true American hero. He was a real centrist, which is what we lack in the body politic today.”
What makes Avakian proudest of his association with Glenn is how Glenn continued his public service long after the space flight. Glenn served in the U.S. Senate for 24 years, utilizing his expertise in science and engineering to champion causes such as alternative fuels.
After the election Avakian opened up his own consulting firm, which he ran for 31 years. He frequently worked with the school districts in Ohio, helping them get tax levies passed to fund infrastructure projects. He traveled across Ohio countless times throughout the years, and was one of the first to use sophisticated polling techniques. One of his most meaningful accomplishments was getting a $600 million bond issue passed to rebuilt the entire school district of Dayton, Ohio.” ●