Andy Lusk was born in in 1917 in Beachgrove, Quebec and, sadly, passed away in September 1988. As a young boy, he bought his first guitar for $7 by picking and selling blueberries. At fifteen, he taught himself to play and sing, writing his own songs (since there was no radio at home) about real things, people and events.
In his early years, he worked in lumber camps and in a gold mine, and he joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1942, fighting with the 4th Anti-tank Regiment in North Africa, Italy, France and across Europe. Returning home from the war, he entered and won an amateur singing contest in Michigan, and that success gave him the incentive to write "The Pontiac Line", a song subsequently recorded by Hall of Fame member Bob King. Andy went to work for the RCMP and, in his spare time, he roamed the Pontiac and the Gatineau playing his music and earning himself the nickname, "The Pontiac Prowler". He also had the opportunity to entertain on radio, television, at the Chateau Laurier and at a CPR conference on Parliament Hill.
Andy married his wife, the late Irene, in 1948 and, they had three children, Hubert, Wanda and Margaret-Ann.
Andy leaves, as his legacy, three albums: "Land of the Pontiac", "Ottawa Valley Entertainers" and "Hook, Line and Lusk", the latter a testament to his other love, fishing. "The World’s Oldest Teenager", as he called himself, was well-loved for his good humour and his enthusiasm for the country music scene and is much missed by the country music community.
|