lonnie johnson...

 Lonnie Johnson interview '63 “My father taught me everything I know. He give me my schooling, he give me everything I got. I don’t even know how the inside of a school looks and I can read anything that’s on paper. I can talk to anybody on any subject they like talking about and any spare time I get sit down and read and read and read. So when I say something I have the correct pronunciation of my words, not flat and rude and so on. But some people they don’t want to know any more than- they know, but you can never learn too much, and what’s more you can always find time.

The way I feel about music, I want it to last, I never want it to die. It makes so many people happy—the sick, the blind, the crippled, and it’s an awful lot of help. Anything that I can do in my way I try my best to do it. So that’s what I get out of music—helping other people.

Singing songs has brought a lot of people back together, brought a lot of people together that’s never been married and made a lot of people happy that’s sick or worried or disappointed in life. It brings a lot of joy every way you look at it. Music you can say is food for a human’s body—that’s the only way I can describe it to you.”