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In the News

Voice of America veteran retires

Leo Sarkisian, 91, officially retired on Friday. The weekly radio show he started, “Music Time in Africa,” is, at 47 years old, VOA’s longest-running English-language program.

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1950s

Leo Sarkisian records musicians at Kabul Radio using gear he was given when he left a job in Hollywood. Sarkisian, a noted ethnomusicologist on African music, was offered a job at Voice of America by famed broadcaster Edward R. Murrow. In 1965, he launched “Music Time in Africa,” a weekly program that features traditional and contemporary music from the continent.

/ Voice of America

Leo Sarkisian talks with a group in Tanzania. Sarkisian had the kind of career that today lives only in legend — for half a century he was paid by the U.S. government to travel throughout Africa, visiting every country and returning with thousands of rare recordings of music that most of the world had never heard.

1970s

Leo Sarkisian talks with a group in Tanzania. Sarkisian had the kind of career that today lives only in legend — for half a century he was paid by the U.S. government to travel throughout Africa, visiting every country and returning with thousands of rare recordings of music that most of the world had never heard.

/ Voice of America

Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, left, accepts a portrait of himself that Leo Sarkisian painted, in the capital of Mogadishu.

1970s

Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre, left, accepts a portrait of himself that Leo Sarkisian painted, in the capital of Mogadishu.

/ Voice of America

John Lennon, left, embraces Leo Sarkisian at his retirement party at the Voice of America headquarters in Washington.

Sept. 28, 2012

John Lennon, left, embraces Leo Sarkisian at his retirement party at the Voice of America headquarters in Washington.

Dayna Smith / For the Washington Post

Leo Sarkisian listens as he is remembered by colleagues at his retirement party.

Sept. 28, 2012

Leo Sarkisian listens as he is remembered by colleagues at his retirement party.

Dayna Smith / For the Washington Post

Andrea Tadic, from Voice of America’s Office of Language Programming, signs a poster at the retirement party for Leo Sarkisian.

Sept. 28, 2012

Andrea Tadic, from Voice of America’s Office of Language Programming, signs a poster at the retirement party for Leo Sarkisian.

Dayna Smith / For the Washington Post

Leo Sarkisian and his wife, Mary, attend his retirement party. Marrying in 1949, they started traveling in the Middle East where, “in the mountains of Afghanistan, in the Hindu Kush mountains, she slept in pup tents while I made sure that the howling wolves wouldn’t come in,” he recalled. They traveled together throughout his career, and, in her words, her husband “just lucked out” with his Voice of America career. He had enviable leeway, going where he wanted and staying as long as he liked.

Sept. 28, 2012

Leo Sarkisian and his wife, Mary, attend his retirement party. Marrying in 1949, they started traveling in the Middle East where, “in the mountains of Afghanistan, in the Hindu Kush mountains, she slept in pup tents while I made sure that the howling wolves wouldn’t come in,” he recalled. They traveled together throughout his career, and, in her words, her husband “just lucked out” with his Voice of America career. He had enviable leeway, going where he wanted and staying as long as he liked.

Dayna Smith / For the Washington Post

Leo and Mary Sarkisian hold hands at his VOA send-off.

Sept. 28, 2012

Leo and Mary Sarkisian hold hands at his VOA send-off.

Dayna Smith / For the Washington Post

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