by Monica Deady
(Reprinted from “The Watertown Tab and Press,” November 21, 2003.)
Albert Gayzagian cannot remember ever seeing anything. Yet, despite being blind since an early age, Gayzagian, 77, seems to have a greater ability to see life as it is than most people.
As a credit to his lifelong commitment to making life better for blind people, the Lincoln Street resident received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 100th Anniversary Gala of the Massachusetts Association of the Blind on Nov. 13.
“What I hope is what I’ve done over the years has contributed just a little bit to making the lives of blind people a little better,” Gayzagian said at the gala, held at the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston. He cited improvements he had worked toward, such as open employment, use of technology and a more open society.
“I am pleased to say that over the years a number of blind people have come to me and said things I’ve done or said have made a positive difference,” Gayzagian added. “Still ... I haven’t done enough.”
At the gala, Gayzagian presented the Uncommon Vision Award to music legend Stevie Wonder, who was there to receive it. “Even though you are blind,” Wonder told the crowd of about 300, “you are blessed to be given that challenge to do far better than you can imagine.”
Gayzagian was born in Dorchester, but moved to Watertown with his family to attend the Perkins School for the Blind. He graduated from Perkins and went on to graduate from Watertown High School in 1944.
By 1949 he had obtained a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, both in English, from Harvard University, but had to wait three years before he found a job with John Hancock. “Nobody wanted to hire a blind person,” Gayzagian said, as he relaxed in his living room with his guide dog, Joanie, at his feet. He added that he was lucky to find “a couple of bosses that recognized I could do more.”
He worked his way through the ranks of the company for 25 years, starting as a typist in salary administration and retiring as a senior financial officer in 1991. During his time at the company, Gayzagian was part of a commercial in 1972 which demonstrated John Hancock’s commitment to hiring disabled people.
In addition to his experience in the workforce, Gayzagian has been a part of many major organizations, including president of the Greater Boston Personnel Managers Club, chairman of the Boston Survey Group and chairman of the National Life Insurance Industry salary committee. In addition, he has served on the board of directors of the National Braille Press and the Governor’s Committee on Employment and the Handicapped.
Gayzagian joined MAB’s board in 1959, and has held several positions, including three years as president. He was also appointed to the board of directors of the Perkins School in 1976 and serves on the Alliance on Aging and Vision Loss.
“He’s probably one of the smartest men I’ve ever met in my entire life,” longtime friend Sydney Feldman said of Gayzagian. Feldman presented Gayzagian’s award to him at the gala. As a volunteer reader for MAB, Feldman met Gayzagian in 1971 and despite moves, she still faithfully reads to him every week.
“I adore the man,” she said. “He’s awesome and very self-effacing.”
She added that when anyone in her family needs help with technology, they immediately ask him, since he has “really availed” himself to the technology that is available for blind people.
Gayzagian wrote and edited several books about computer use for blind people, including one about the operating system Microsoft Windows. He described with ease what he uses in his home today — Microsoft Excel and Word, and other mainstream programs, that use speech output to enable blind people to navigate the software programs as well as the Internet.
With his late wife Betty, who was also blind, Gayzagian adopted two children, becoming the first blind couple in Massachusetts to do so. The pair met at a convention in Springfield, and were married exactly 52 weeks later, Gayzagian said.
“It was hard at first, but it really worked out more smoothly than we thought it might,” Gayzagian said. Gayzagian said he and his wife were unsure if they would find an agency that would let them adopt since they were both blind, in their early 40s and of two different religions.
But Gayzagian said everything was fine once they adopted Michael in 1969 and Cynthia in 1971. He said he and his wife worked out certain techniques for feeding them and when putting harnesses on them when they went out.
“I never really thought about it as a kid,” Cynthia Gayzagian said. She said when she was growing up, her parents were friends with another blind couple who had three sons.
Gayzagian is also a member of the Commission on Disability in Watertown. Alex Liazos has served with him since its inception in 1991. The commission began as a committee and its designation was changed to commission in 1994 to grant it more power. “I admire all he’s done given the obstacles of having to rely on the dog to get around,” Liazos said. “He’s incredibly independent. He’s probably more active than we are.”
Liazos also cited Gayzagian’s skill in working on computers and his commitment to many organizations. “I just think he more than deserves the award,” Liazos said.
But Gayzagian said he doesn't think what he has accomplished in his life is so out of the ordinary. “You don’t think of it as something that would warrant any sort of award,” he said. “You do it for that reason, not because you’re trying to prove something.”