Avlon, John

Pedigree

Born in the family of John Jeffrey Avlon and Dianne Alexandra Phillips. It has Greek roots ^{[9] [10]} .

John's paternal grandfather, John Avlon, came from the island of Kerkyra ( Greece ). He was born into the family of George Avlon and Eddna Flessle. With the end of World War I, John Avlon became an orphan after his family died during the outbreak of Spanish flu . In 1920, as an 8–9-year-old child, he helped load things onto ships when he met an American and advised him to leave for the United States. A few days later, he secretly entered the ship "El Presidente Wilson", which sailed to the United States. There he was received by a Jewish family who ran an insurance agency in New York. Although John Avlon never received formal education, he ultimately succeeded in business ^[11] .

John's paternal grandmother, Carol Jeffries, who had English and Scottish roots, was born in New York in the family of Herbert Ottley Jeffries and Eva Geraldine Lang. The latter, in turn, was born in San Jose ( Costa Rica ) in the family of Canadian Robert Lang from Roussillon and American Evelyn "Eve" Chandler.

John’s maternal grandfather, Alexander Konstantin Phillips, was born in the Greek family of Konstantin Alexander Phillips, originally from the island of Samos (Greece) and Dionysia Stamatakis, originally from Istanbul ( Turkey ). His wife was Tula Pearl Carvelas ^[12] .

John's great-grandfather, Konstantin Alexander Phillips (1892-1968), left the Balkan Wars with his wife Dionysia Stamatakis (1889-1963) ^[13] , settling in Buenos Aires ( Argentina ), where their children were born. In November 1917, the family arrived on Ellis Island (USA), where, due to a suspected serious eye infection, Dionysia was quarantined. After going through a board of inquiry and a lengthy recovery process, in February 1918 they entered the United States and settled in Ohio . Prior to retiring, Konstantin worked as a bricklayer at the steel mill in Youngstown ^[14] .

John's grandfather, Alexander Konstantin Phillips, studying at school, and later at the medical faculty, worked every summer at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube factory with his father Konstantin. During the Second World War he served as a surgeon in the Philippines , including during the days of the battle in Leyte Bay . After the war, he returned to his hometown, where he worked in a hospital and, together with his wife Tula, Karvelas Phillips raised five children ^[11] .

John's father is a lawyer, real estate owner and company in Charleston ( South Carolina ) and the city of New York ^[15] .

Education

He graduated from the .

In 1996, he received a bachelor's degree in political science and American studies at Yale University .

In 2006, he graduated with a Master 's degree in Business Administration ^{[8] [16]} .

Career

In 1998-2001, he worked as the youngest chief speechwriter in the administration of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ^[8] , later becoming deputy director of communications ^[10] . He was also the Director of Speechwriting and the Deputy Director for Political Affairs in the 2008 presidential campaign of Giuliani ^[17] .

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, together with his team, Avlon wrote panegyrics for all personnel of the New York Fire Department ^[18] , the New York Police Department and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey , as well as other emergency workers, killed in the destruction of the World Trade Center. His essay “The Resilient City”, dedicated to these tragic events, was recognized as the best ^[19] .

As a television journalist, he worked in the satirical television program “ The Daily Show ”, on CNN, MSNBC TV channels, in Bill Mara ’s talk show “ ”, etc. ^[10]

He taught at Yale University, New York University , John F. Kennedy School of Management and others. Previously, he was a senior fellow at the .

He acts as a news commentator on television in The Daily Show, on MSNBC, CNN, , PBS , in the talk show Real Time with Bill Maher ^[20] , and is also the host of them the show “Wingnut of the Week” on CNN ^[10] .

In 2002-2006, he was a columnist and assistant editor of the conservative daily newspaper The New York Sun ^[8] .

Since 2008 - senior political columnist for The Daily Beast ^[8] .

Columnist wrote about Avlon:

Americans fed up with Anne Coulter / Michael Moore's debate school and looking for someone who can be a clear spokesman for a healthy, moderate stance may have found their voice in John Avlon ^{[21] [22]} .

Throughout the 2012 election cycle in the United States, on the CNN ^[19] in the news television program Erin .

In 2013-2018, he was the editor-in-chief of the online publication The Daily Beast. By September 2014, the publication’s website reached its new record with 21 million unique visitors , which meant an increase in the number of readers by 60% during the year and the total size of its community ^[23] . At the end of 2016, Avlon announced that the site “The Daily Beast” doubled its traffic compared to the previous four years and reached more than a million readers per day ^[24] .

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the and the Bronx Literature Academy , and a member of the advisory board of .

In 2010, he became the founding leader of the political organization / civic movement “ ”, consisting of Republicans, Democrats and non-party members, whose mission is to force the government to tackle the problems of society again ^{[25 ]} . Belongs to the Reshape New York group.

In 2011, along with activist and actor George Clooney, he was an observer in a referendum on the independence of South Sudan from Sudan , which ended the civil war that lasted more than 20 years ^[19] . At the end of the trip, an illustration for an Avlon article entitled “ A 21st Century Statesman ” about George Clooney ^{[26] [27] [28]} appeared on the cover of the Newsweek news magazine. In the same year, the Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, appointed Avlon to the Advisory Committee on Voter Assistance. ^[29]

In 2012, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) presented Avlon with an award for the best online column ^[30] .

In April 2018, a message appeared that Avlon was working on a new book, which is expected to be published in the fall of 2020 under the title “ Lincoln's Farewell ”, and is dedicated to the last five weeks of the life of the 16th US President Abraham Lincoln ^[31] .

He is the author of numerous articles and essays.

Since 2009, married to , great-granddaughter of the 31st US President Herbert Hoover ^[10] . Avlona’s wife, like him, is a well-known political commentator, as well as a political strategist, media persona, feminist and LGBT activist. In 2013, the couple had a son, Jack ^[32] , and in 2015, the daughter of Tula Lu. They live in New York ^{[33] [19]} .

Books

• Independent Nation: How Centrism Can Change American Politics
• Washington's Farewell: The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
• Deadline Artists - Scandals, Tragedies and Triumphs :: More of Americaís Greatest Newspaper Columns
• Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columnists
• Wingnuts: Extremism in the Age of Obama
• Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America
• Empire City: New York Through The Centuries ^{[34] [35]}

• The daily beast
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