Terry Anderson

Terry Anderson, a former Batavia resident and distinguished journalist who gained local and international celebrity status when he was taken hostage by an Iranian terrorist group, made a long-lasting imprint, including right here in Batavia at the Peace Garden on West Main Street, International Peace Garden President Paula Savage says.

Savage and others gathered Saturday at the garden alongside the Holland Land Office Museum to remember and honor Anderson, who died on April 21 at the age of 76.

“Terry really is a person who has made a mark, an indelible mark on this world, actually, with sacrifices that he made, what he's been through. And the fact that he comes from Batavia is just, it's a gift for us to behold,” Savage said. “But the International Peace Garden Foundation and the Friends of the Batavia Peace Garden, we wouldn't exist without each other. And my organization representing 22 countries around the world, and Batavia is one of those peace gardens. And Terry took a very sincere interest in the work that we were doing with this beautiful garden here in Batavia and the world because of what he had been through, and he decided that he was going to come here and help us out and give us the boost that we needed in order to launch this amazing fundraising program to build this, and it just keeps going on and on and on.

So what you see is what you get, but there’s going to be a lot more coming down the road, so to speak, keep an eye on us, because we’re going strong and we appreciate the support that we get from the entire community.”

A citation was read on behalf of state Assemblyman Steve Hawley commemorating April 27, 2024, for the life and legacy of Terry Anderson at the Batavia Peace Garden. Anderson was a resident of Batavia during his high school days, later flourishing in a career as a correspondent for The Associated Press and becoming the longest-held American hostage in war-torn Lebanon, the citation states. 

Anderson was held from March 16, 1985, until his release on Dec. 4, 1991. 

“Now, therefore, it is resolved that as a duly elected member of the State Assembly of New York, I recognize that today we remember Terry Anderson, an exceptional person who is worthy of the esteem of not only to the community but to the entire a state of New York and the world,” it states.

Anderson was the Beirut bureau chief in 1985 for the Associated Press when he was kidnapped by armed men who dragged him from his car after he dropped off a tennis partner following a match. The pistol-wielding men yanked him from his car and pushed him into a Mercedes-Benz.

The terrorists were reportedly members of Hezbollah, an Islamic Jihad Organization in Lebanon. He was reportedly blindfolded and beaten and kept in chains and moved to 20 different hideaways in Beirut, South Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley.

His release came 2,454 days later following intense lobbying by his sister, Peggy Say.

Anderson didn’t forget his boyhood hometown upon his release, and his last public appearance in 2011 was memorable for many locals. He made the rounds, including to Genesee Community College, the History Department, and to dedicate the International Peace Garden.

One of America's most acclaimed and recognized journalists at the time, Anderson was invited to return to his former hometown to help raise funds for what was then a War of 1812 Peace Garden planned for a plot of land adjacent to the Holland Land Office Museum.

Co-founders Savage and Barb Toal said the project's paperwork began in 2010, and there were many hurdles to overcome to achieve the planned effort.

“We had the support of the Legislature at the time, and we still do, and we worked with them. When we first came here, we had the DEC, the EPA, the DOT, the city of Batavia, the town of Batavia,  the county of Genesee, and the state of New York. All these things we had to overcome, the Army Corps of Engineers, with a creek next door,” she said. “So I mean, if it wasn't the ability to bring peace to all those organizations to prove to them what we were trying to establish, this could have never happened.” 

And they broke ground a year later and were up and running by 2012, she said. The goal was to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 bicentennial. 

Former county manager Jay Gsell spoke about the importance of placement and said that this garden's location in Batavia means something.

“So it’s been placed between Buffalo and Rochester, which has made it, I think, why what you guys have pulled off here, not only significant but also there’s a kismet about it because it’s all about location, location, location,” he said. I think it also puts us on the map. Nothing wrong with that, that’s what the Chamber of Commerce is about. And by the same token, it’s because of you guys’ unfailing energy and commitment to doing this. And so congratulations, thank you and keep doing the great work that you do because that’s what this community is about.” 

Having the support of Anderson, who returned “without malice” after his horrendous ordeal and physical and mental suffering, means a great deal to garden volunteers, Savage said. 

“Especially after what he had been through. I mean, for someone to take up a project like this and to have him suffer the way he did. I think he just felt a sense of calm when he found out that this garden was going to be built and that we were going to promote peace around the world,” she said. “And you know, this guy, that’s what he became all about. He became a strong advocate in his own right.”

During that last visit to this area, Anderson was asked why he was part of the garden dedication and fundraising efforts.

"Why would I miss a chance to dedicate a peace garden?” he said. “It may be on a smaller scale, but why wouldn't I support it?"

Terry Anderson, a journalist and a Batavia High School graduate who gained international attention after being taken hostage by an Iranian-backed terrorist group, has died in Greenwood Lake, in the Hudson Valley.

He was 76 years old.

Anderson was the Beirut bureau chief in 1985 for the Associated Press when he was kidnapped by armed men who dragged him from his car after he dropped off a tennis partner following a match. The pistol-wielding men yanked him from his car and pushed him into a Mercedes-Benz.

The terrorists were reportedly members of Hezbollah, an Islamic Jihad Organization in Lebanon. He was reportedly blindfolded and beaten and kept in chains and moved to 20 different hideaways in Beirut, South Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley.

His release came 2,454 days later following intense lobbying by his sister, Peggy Say.

Anderson and Say were born in Lorain, Ohio, where their father, Glen, was a village police officer. While still children, their parents moved to Batavia, where their father worked as a truck driver and their mother, Lily, was a waitress.

After Anderson was kidnapped, Say didn't feel the case was getting enough attention from the U.S. government and the United States. She launched a national campaign to raise the awareness of people to the plight of her brother and other hostages held by Hezbollah.

Say, who had returned to Batavia after relocating for a time, enlisted fellow journalists, humanitarian groups, world figures, and U.S. citizens in the cause, which led to the nation being festooned with yellow ribbons. 

She also received assistance from many fellow Batavia residents, such as Anne Zickl, who died in 2014.

Say died in 2015 at age 74.

Terry Anderson's daughter Sulome told the New York Times that Anderson died following complications from a recent heart surgery.

Anderson's last public appearance in Batavia was in February 2011 to dedicate the International Peace Garden.

Former Batavia resident Terry Anderson -- known internationally as the former Middle East Bureau Chief for Associated Press who was taken hostage in Lebanon for six years -- will serve as a visiting professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Anderson, most recently a journalism professor the University of Kentucky, will hold a temporary appointment in the Department of Newspaper and Online Journalism and give guest lectures and teach classes on several subjects, including international reporting.

While Anderson was in Batavia in February to support the planned International Peace Garden, he told reporters he would like to return to Upstate New York.

Anderson, who holds a bachelor's degree from Iowa State University, has also taught at Columbia University and Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism. Anderson is a former Marine who worked as a combat correspondent during the Vietnam War.

Anderson's appointment is for the 2011-12 academic year.  

Photo from Anderson's recent visit to Batavia, as he signs a copy of one of his many books for Jim Owen.

It's an auspicious time for Terry Anderson to return to Batavia to dedicate a peace garden.

Anderson, who grew up in Batavia, was chief Middle East correspondent for Associated Press when he was abducted on March 16, 1985, in Beirut following a game of tennis. Anderson was held in captivity by Hezbollah for six years and nine months.

As Anderson returns to his boyhood home, the Middle East is exploding in a way it never has before. Governments in Tunisia and Egypt have been toppled by pro-democracy demonstrators. Even the Iranian government, which backs Hezbollah, is facing youthful opposition.

Anderson is cautiously optimistic about what he sees happening.

"I watched Yasser Arafat and Isaac Rabin shake hands on the White House lawn," Anderson said tonight during a meet-and-greet at Batavia Downs. "It was one of the most optimistic days of my life, because I covered that conflict for years, and (look at) what has happened since.

"It doesn’t always turn out for the best. But yes, I see something new in the Middle East. I see something that promises something hopeful for the future."

One of America's most acclaimed and recognized journalists, Anderson was invited to return to his former hometown to help raise funds for a War of 1812 Peace Garden planned for a plot of land adjacent to the Holland Land Office Museum.

Anderson will have a busy day Friday, starting with an 8 a.m. visit to Batavia High School. He will also have lunch with GCC President Stuart Steiner followed by a public lecture at noon at GCC. At 2 p.m., there will be a press conference with Anderson at the Genesee County History Office, 7 W. Main St., and at 5 p.m., the main event -- a dinner at Terry Hills ($25 per person), where Anderson will be the featured speaker.

Thursday night, Anderson arrived at Batavia Downs shortly after 7 p.m. and he was warmly greeted by a few old friends as well as people involved in organizing the peace garden effort. Anderson also took a few minutes to talk with members of the media who where there.

Anderson -- who recently finished a teaching stint at the University of Kentucky and is now contemplating a return to residency in Upstate New York -- was animated as soon as the topic turned to the turmoil in the Middle East.

He recalled that he was in captivity when Marcos fell in the Philippines, and that was followed by the regime falling in South Africa and then, of course, the toppling of the Berlin Wall and the fall of the Soviet Union.

"It just proves again what we knew then – you can have all of the police and secret police and guns and thugs in the world, and when your people stand up and say, ‘no, we’re tired of you,’ you’re gone," Anderson said.

He added, "Every country is different, but there is something going around that they all seem to have in common: They are tired of dictators and corruption and denial of human rights."

A Vietnam veteran, Anderson said that as a 19-year-old Marine, he visited the most famous peace garden in the world, the one at ground zero in Hiroshima, Japan. So when he was invited to return to Batavia to help bring about a new peace garden he thought, "who's not in favor of peace?

"Why would I miss a chance to dedicate a peace garden? It may be on a smaller scale, but why wouldn't I support it?"

Photo: Jim Owen gets an autograph from Terry Anderson on one of his books.

With a nod of approval (no official vote could be taken) from the Legislature's Human Services Committee today, Marilyn Drilling and Barb Toal are ready to push forward with plans for a peace garden next to the Holland Land Office Museum.

They need to raise $55,000 in the next 11 months, and Drilling said a key component of the fundraising campaign will include a dinner with Terry Anderson as the keynote speaker.

Anderson, who was held captive in Lebanon for more than 6 years, from 1985 to 1991, hasn't visited his hometown of Batavia in 19 years.

He didn't want to make it 20, said Drilling, executive director of HLOM, and he agreed to support the peace garden effort at no cost to the organizers.

"Who better to talk about peace than a man who spent so much of his wonderful life behind locked doors," Drilling said.

The dinner is planned for Sept. 9.

The county owns the land next to the museum and must approve any new use of the strip of real estate hard against the Tonawanda Creek. To grant approval, the Legislature must receive a finished plan, which includes at least the potential of approvals from the City of Batavia and the Army Corps of Engineers, as well as contract language from County Attorney Charles Zambito and final engineering plans.

Without that, the Human Services Committee couldn't even poll members for consensus, but it was clear there were no objections from members for pushing forward with the project.

"Of all the people I've heard talk about it, I don't think I've heard anybody say they're not in favor of it," said Hollis Upson. "It's very interesting the amount of outpouring and number of volunteers who support it. It's been vary contagious."

Drilling is concerned that without a sense that the county supports the project, it will impede fundraising, which needs to proceed now.

There are 20 countries with official Peace Gardens, which is an international effort to promote and recognize peace among nations. The Peace Garden Foundation promotes the effort and was founded by current president Paula Savage, a resident and native of Batavia. The Batavia garden would be an honorary, not official, member. It would feature the 20 flags of the countries with official gardens.

Each country would be represented by its flag, and flag poles would be sold for donations of about $2,500 each, according to Drilling.

Drilling sees the peace garden as a natural extension of HLOM, helping to bring in tourists.

Toal, who chairs the local Peace Garden Committee, said it's a natural fit for Batavia and the strong interest in the region from War of 1812 enthusiasts.

Batavia, she said, served as a key defense in stopping the British advance after Buffalo was destroyed. Many tourists interested in the War of 1812 make the trip to Batavia, she said, and the peace garden at HLOM would be an appropriate destination point.

No county funds would be used in building and maintaining the peace garden, which is why, Drilling said, it's important to get started on fundraising now.

Terry Anderson, the former Hezbollah hostage who grew up in Batavia, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Nov. 3, according to Associated Press.

Now a lecturer at the University of Kentucky, Anderson was an AP correspondent in Lebanon in 1985 when he was abducted by terrorists following a tennis game. He was held hostage for six-and-a-half years.

According to AP, Anderson lists $60,000 in assets and $1.8 million in liabilities in his Chapter 7 filing. The filing lists 17 credit cards, some with debt related to a restaurant in the Virgin Islands.

Anderson filed a lawsuit against Iran over his captivity and received a $26 million settlement in 2002 from the government's frozen assets. With the money, according to Wikipedia, Anderson started charities and a blues bar in Athens, Ohio.

In 2004, Anderson ran for the Senate in Ohio. He was defeated by Republican Joy Padgett, whose campaign commercials suggested Anderson would be soft on terrorism. Anderson garnered 46 percent of the vote.

Clocking in at No. 7 in the Twenty-Five Things That Made Genesee County Famous is Terry Anderson, America's longest-held hostage in the Middle East, whose release set off a media blitz upon the city of Batavia, the likes of which Genesee County had never seen.

Holland Land Office Museum Director Pat Weissend:

On March 16, 1985, former Batavia resident Terry Anderson had just finished a game of tennis in Beirut, Lebanon when three gunmen pulled up in a green Mercedes and kidnapped him. This was day one in a 2,454 day ordeal that captivated the City of Batavia, Genesee County, the United States and the world.

[...]

His captors were a group of Shiite Muslims. During his captivity, Anderson was tortured and beaten. He didn’t know from one day to the next if he would be released or killed. He turned to the Bible for peace and wrote poetry.

After being imprisoned for nearly seven years, Anderson was released on December 4, 1991. After his release he spent a few days in a hospital in Wiesbaden, Germany before returning to the United States. 

For more on Terry Anderson, visit the museum's Web site.

In a side note: This terra cotta sculpture here of Anderson was dropped off at the Holland Land Office Museum last week and should be up on display for folks who want to check it out up close.