THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUly 28, 2023 Page 11 Local performer returns home as part of Veterans Benefit Concert Series N ot every kid in town who falls in love with music will be successful or even advance to the level of being able to pursue it as a passion. One Saugus High School grad had that great fortune. John Antonopoulos, a 1970 SHS Graduate, who is more commonly referred to around the world as Johnny A., did and continues to do so, 50 years later! Over the course of his career, Johnny has performed as both a solo artist and a member of other bands. Some notable bands he has been a member of were the Peter Wolf Band (J. Geils frontman) and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame band The Yardbirds. The name “Johnny A.” might ASKS | FROM PAGE 10 would have stayed a nun, but when my father was 75 years old and my mom was alone, I decided to come home and help. When I came home, I went to Eastern Airlines and decided I was going to get into public education. I applied to Lynn, Wakefield and Danvers. Danvers called and I taught 29 years as a grade school teacher in Danvers. Q: And you wound up getting married? A: Yes. I was married for 46 years to Martin V. Armstrong, from Melrose, Mass. I was proud of him. Martin worked for AT&T. He was 81 years old when he passed away in 2008. Q: How did you meet Martin? A: At a wedding; my nephew got married to his sister. Martin was the brother of the bride, who married my nephew Jimmy Gould, 90, of Palm Bay, Fla. Teresa Gould just recently passed. Q: Why did you leave Saugus? A: I retired from school teaching and I was out on disability. My husband said he wanted to go to Florida, so we moved in 1985. I have been living down there for 38 years. Q: You are 101 years old. What’s the secret of your longevity? What do you credit to living so long? A: I have good health habits. I never drank and I never smoked. My mother’s father lived to be 103 in Ireland and my mother’s mother lived to be 96. And my mother lived to be 94.Dad was only 75 when he died. Q: You never drank? A: No. When I was about five, I got sick drinking my dad’s beer. I thought it was tonic and dad let me taste it. It made me not be mainstream, but there’s no doubt it’s synonymous with guitar. Bitten at an early age by the desire to perform like his idols (Clapton, Beck and Page), he never relented. A devotee of the 1960s British Invasion, it gave him a goal. By the 1970s, he was performing throughout the New England area, drawing attention from established musicians, like Derek & The Dominos’ keyboardist Bobby Whitlock and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Doug Clifford. All this is to say that Johnny A. has the chops, and that’s not to mention his prolific solo career. Spanning three full-length albums, Johnny A. has earned a Grammy Award nomination, the honor of Boston Music Awards, “Blues Artist of the Year 2010,” and a spot in the revered Boston Music Hall of Fame. With all this said, it will be like old-home week, as Johny A. takes the stage with special guest Myke Scavone, of The Yardbirds, joining. This event is a benefit concert; 100% of profits from this series will go to Veterans organizations in the area dealing with Vets impacted by PTSD, addiction and homelessness-related issues. Family members were happy about Madeline Grace Gould’s time as a nun. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) very sick. At the time, he said to my mother, “Nell, that’s one we don’t have to worry about.” Q: Are you still politically active? A: Yes. I have voted in every presidential election since I was of age, and I have never missed a vote. I was brought up as a Democrat, but I used to vote Republican sometimes if I liked the man and thought he was a decent person. I voted for Sen. Brooke [Edward Brooke, the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate, was a Republican who won in a predominantly Democratic Massachusetts]. And I voted for Saltonstall (Leverett Saltonstall, a Massachusetts Republican who was elected governor and later served more than 20 years as a U.S. senator]. Q: What’s the best book you’ve ever read? A: I would say the Bible. Q: Do you still watch the news at night? A: Yes. But lately, I’m getting fed up with everything about Trump – Trump – Trump; I’m getting sick of it. I’m so sick of it. He ought to be in jail. He’s not a good man. It makes me angry – all of the people who are sticking with him. Q: What is your diet these days? A: I like Italian food, as long as it’s not spicy. I drink three cups of tea – black decaf tea – with no sugar. Just milk. Decaf doesn’t taste good. I was told to drink it by my doctor, so I do it. I have A-fib – first bad illness since arthritis. I was 79 in North Carolina when I had a heart attack. Q: Do you exercise? A: I don’t exercise anymore. My exercise is walking around the house, doing a little house work. Q: Do you drive anymore? I interviewed two Saugus ladies this year who still had their driver’s licenses and still drive. A: I stopped at 95. They gave me a license that lasted to 100, but I didn’t think it was fair for me to be on the road anymore. I miss it terribly. I didn’t think I should be driving anymore. I figured if I got in an accident, I’d be the one blamed. But I never got in an accident in all of the years that I drove, and I never got a speeding ticket. Q: Sounds like you had a perfect driving record. A: I never got a ticket of any kind. Q: Anything else that you would like to share? A: I do like Florida, but I do Madeline Grace Gould Armstrong shows off the letter and autographed photo from President Joe Biden on May 8 after celebrating her 101st birthday. She also received certificates from the Saugus selectmen, State Representative Donald Wong, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) miss Saugus. Q: What do you miss most about Saugus? A: I miss the farm and the family. We had such good neighbors. People were so good to each other back then. These days, you don’t get to know your neighbors very well. I imagine that most of my school friends have all passed away. Q: Anything special that you are looking ahead to in your life? A: I would love to go to Ireland after Labor Day when the plane rates are lower. I’d love to spend two to three weeks with some relatives in Limerick, Ireland. My mother came from the county of Limerick. My father was from the county of Kerry. They met in America, in Lynn, Mass. My husband and I used to go to Ireland every summer. I haven’t been there for 10 years. I will be going with my nephew, Shawn Buckless, who I live with now. If I am able to make the trip, we will be staying with relatives on the same farm where my mom was born: not the same building, but on the same land. Q: So, you have a little symmetry in your life. You vacation here in Limerick, Maine during the warmer months of the year. A: Yes. We stay in a cottage in Limerick, Maine, overlooking Lake Sokokis. Shawn is the son of Kenneth and Janet Buckless. Kenneth was a former register of voters in Saugus. My sister, Janet, died two years ago. I have had a wonderful family and I enjoy life. But I really loved life on the farm.
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