A few months ago, Maggie Washo and Jevon Daly reached out on Facebook to readers, looking to interview residents who had made it to 90 years old and beyond. Originally, the thought was to ascertain what these people had in common – if any commonalities existed. While they didn’t get exactly what they were searching for, the duo did have enjoyable conversations with lovely people who have been on this planet for a time. The dialogue veered sporadically from the price of gas and raising children to meeting celebrities, square dancing, politics, war, and the dangers of motorcycles.
What follows are snippets of these interviews.
This is the first part in a continuing series. See the next installments in our October and November issues.
Buddy Wrightson, Date of Birth: September 22, 1933
Maggie Washo: What brought you to Hilton Head Island?
Buddy Wrightson: My family. I was living in Donna, Texas, by myself and my doctor said that wasn’t a good idea anymore.
MW: Do you like living in South Carolina?
BW: Oh, I don’t mind it. I enjoy the weather.
MW: What was your early life like?
BW: Pretty routine, I guess. I had four brothers and two sisters. I was an orphan. My dad died when I was three – he had a blister on his heel and he didn’t take care of it, and when they went to amputate his leg, it was too late. My mother dumped us at a boarding school in 1939. Left us. I was the youngest. My older sister raised me. She lived to be 95. I have another sister in Arizona who is also 95.
MW: What did you do for a career?
BW: I worked at Firestone Rubber Company for 30 years and I retired from the Air Guard.
MW: Did you have a family?
BW: I was married twice – and had two boys and three girls. I had a fairly good life, I guess. Pretty routine. My first wife’s name was Barbara. Then I married Dorma – we were married for almost 40 years when she passed away.
MW: You obviously enjoyed being married.
BW: Oh yeah!
MW: What advice do you have for people who want to stay married for a long time?
BW: Just try to get along and listen to each other.
MW: It’s as simple as that, huh?
BW: Yep.
MW: What about raising children – do you have any advice on that?
BW: Well, you gotta listen to them once in a while, and you must make sure they mind you and do what they are told. My kids went off on their own fairly young.
MW: Well, I guess you raised them right, then – they were ready to go off into the world and do the thing.
BW: Yep.
MW: Tell us about the time you met Elvis.
BW: My first wife and I went to his concert in 1956 in Little Rock, Arkansas. I was stationed there. This was before he became famous. We talked to him a little bit.
MW: Did you like him?
BW: Oh yeah – he was a very nice guy. But you didn’t mess with him. Two guys tried to fight him.
MW: What?!
BW: Oh yeah, and he beat them both. After the concert he was talking to their girlfriends, and they didn’t like that, so they jumped him and boy, he pounced on them!
MW: Well, there you go. Was he a big guy?
BW: Oh, I guess he was pretty good sized – but he could take care of himself. No problem there!
Jevon Daly: Buddy, do you remember the first girl you ever went out on a date with?
BW: Ha ha! No. My memory is kind of short.
MW: I guess she was forgettable.
JD: What about your first car?
BW: It was a 1937 Dodge four-shift.
JD: And how much was gas when you were in high school?
BW: Twenty-four cents a gallon!
MW: How much did you pay for your first house?
BW: Oh, golly I don’t remember – my memory is so short anymore.
JD: Not about gas it’s not!
MW: Buddy, to what do you attribute getting to the ripe old age of 90?
BW: Oh, I don’t know – just hanging in there, I guess. (laughs)
MW: What about exercise – was that a big part of your life?
BW: Well, not too much. I was in the Army and Air Force, so I was reasonably active.
JD: Did you box when you were younger?
BW: (Laughing) No! I don’t like being hit.
JD: Ha ha ha! Same.
MW: What about your diet?
BW: I ate everything that was set in front of me. (laughs)
MW: That’s a pretty good way to get to 90 years old, I guess.
MW: Does a particular time or decade in your life stand out as the most enjoyable?
BW: Oh, I guess probably when I was 20, 21.
MW: And then it was all downhill from there, huh?
BW: (Laughs)
MW: Buddy, that’s not very encouraging!
BW: I traveled in a motor home with Dorma for nine years. We went to every state in the union. We had a lot of fun.
MW: Wow! That’s on my bucket list too. I guess I need to learn to drive one of those things.
BW: Dorma drove it. And she was only 90 pounds. It’s just like driving a car.
MW: I don’t think so! (laughs)
MW: What did you like to do for fun when you were younger?
BW: Dance! I had a dance partner in Dorma for a long time. We used to square dance.
JD: When did you buy your first motorcycle?
BW: I’ve never been on or owned a motorcycle.
MW: That’s how he lived to be 90! Stayed off motorcycles.
BW: Yep. (laughs)
JD: Is Buddy a nickname?
BW: Nope – that’s my real name.
MW: I like it.
JD: They don’t make them like that anymore.
MW: I know.
JD: Now there’s all these weird names.
BW: Well, I was the youngest of seven. And my brother’s name was Lavern, but they called him Billy. And the doctor said, “Well you got a Billy, why not a Buddy?”
JD: What were you doing when Woodstock was happening?
BW: My memory isn’t worth a damn!
MW: He was raising five kids!
Sal Piazza, Age: 91
Jevon Daly: We are doing this interview over a game of pool with Sal. Sal, how old are you this year?
Sal Piazza: 91.
Maggie Washo: He’s a pool shark.
JD: He’s a pool shark-slash-hairdresser.
SP: Hairdresser. Builder. Now they call me the hit man because of my (quietly raspy) voice.
JD: Your voice reminds me of Miles Davis. Whose shot is it now? My shot or your shot?
SP: It’s my shot. You missed it.
JD: Alright, go for it then. How long have you been playing pool, Sal?
SP: Only about 12 years. I wanted to play when I was young, and my father forbid me to go into a pool hall. Because only bad people hung out in pool halls … that’s what they said.
JD: And now you’re hanging with all of them. (Takes and misses shot).
SP: You overcut it.
JD: Was that a hairdressing joke?
JD: Sal, where did you grow up?
SP: Queens, New York City. (takes shot and misses). Now I missed one. That’s nerves, I guess.
JD: Who’s making you nervous – Maggie? (laughs)
MW: What made you move to Hilton Head Island?
SP: People moving into New York!
MW: Love it. What’s your favorite part about living on Hilton Head?
SP: Meeting people for the first time and becoming friends instantly.
JD: How did you become a hairdresser?
SP: That’s an involved story. I had just gotten discharged from the Air Force, and I was in the military police. And I wanted to be a policeman. You had to be 21, and I was only 20. My mother had her family over one night – all her relatives – welcoming me home. And my cousin said to me, “What are you gonna do?” and I told him I was going to become a cop, and he said “Forget it. You can’t make it. You’re not even built right.” I was 140 pounds soaking wet. So, he says, “Why don’t you become a hairdresser?” I said, “What’s that?” He says, “It’s like a barber only you work on women.” And I smiled and said, “Work on women?” And he says, “Yeah – and you’re a veteran now, so the government will pay for school.” So, I smiled and said, “That’s great – where is this school?” I walked into the school in Jamaica, Queens, the next morning and two gorgeous blondes grabbed me and said, “We’ll show you around.” This was in 1951. I filled out the paperwork. I saw them working, putting pin curls up. In those days we did big curls with pins. They don’t do that anymore. They don’t even do curls anymore. They just shake their head dry, squeeze it say, “Yeah, you look gorgeous,” and send them on their way.
(Sal pauses to take a shot and misses.)
SP: Ehhh! Go in! Anyway, that’s how I became a hairdresser. And I wanted to tell you this …
JD: Alright. (laughing)
SP: I was never unemployed. I started my first job and in three months, I started my own business. And it was all uphill. I borrowed all the money I could to buy a salon from a Frenchman who only spoke French to his clients. My lawyer told me I needed a non-compete clause. The Frenchman said, “It can only be three miles!” I said “What the hell is the difference? That’s silly.” He said, “If your customers come to us, we can’t do their hair.” I said “Ahhh.” I got an education in high finances. He went away to France and came back in three months. Opened a salon 3.1 miles away from mine. I said, “That’s fine.” I bought his customers, but I didn’t speak French. They didn’t speak English. They liked me anyway. I was a good-looking guy! Let me show you a picture.
(MW laughs as Sal reaches for his wallet.)
JD: You think these women liked you because of your looks?
SP: I was there for four years, and then I sold it. To a cop. Who wasn’t a hairdresser. He bought it for his girlfriend. And that was that.
MW: What business advice do you have for young entrepreneurs?
SP: If you like what you see, and you think you can do it, go for it! Nothing can hurt. You can do anything that anyone else has done. That’s what I always told my kids.
MW: Give us some advice on raising children.
SP: Spare the rod and you’ll lose your child.
MW: Discipline has been a common theme in our interviews today.
JD: Yeah, but nowadays if you hit a kid …
SP: They’ll arrest you! But you must start out when they are young with the word “No.” You want this? OK, well if you work hard, I’ll give it to you.
JD: What do you miss about the early days of Hilton Head, Sal? You must have moved here in the ’70s, right?
SP: It was 1979. What I miss was the fact that it was young – and everybody knew everybody. If you owned a business, you were recognized. And people were just outrageously wonderful. The real Southerners, they weren’t so friendly. If you told them about how you did something up North, they’d say, “Well, why don’t you go back?” In a nice way, of course.
JD: Did you hang out at the White Parrot or Amadeus?
SP: I used to do shows at the White Parrot.
JD: Whoa now! What kind of “shows?”
SP: Hairdressing shows. Fashion shows. The local clothing shops, Faces, they would all participate. Avis (Rollison) at the Porcupine – and Joni Rosser (the Back Door). That was the group. You knew those people, you were in. And the owner of Faces (Patricia Owen) – she was great too. The models were our customers. I did about three or four shows. We would drink, dance – you know – have a party.
JD: What the heck are those over there? (Jevon nods to paintings on the wall)
SP: I used to paint women. I was in love with women.
MW: You were in love with women?
SP: I love women.
MW: Did you marry?
SP: Yes! Twice.
MW: Give us some marriage advice.
SP: Marriage advice? Don’t get married! No one does it anymore.
MW: That’s the same marriage advice Jevon gives.
JD: I mean …
SP: The young kids aren’t raising kids. They don’t want children. So why get married?
JD: I mean …
SP: You get married to propagate.
Evelyn Angevine Silla, Date of Birth: August 5, 1930
Jevon Daly: What kind of last name is Silla?
Evelyn Angevine Silla: Italian, my husband was Italian. Señora Silla.
Maggie Washo: I think you’re going to change the way I feel about Leos, Evelyn.
JD: Did you exercise a lot?
EAS: You mean exercise my rights?
JD: I mean, like, walking and stuff.
MW: Do you attribute exercise to your long life and the fact that you’re still so healthy and vibrant?
EAS: Well, I can say this. As my kids were growing up, we lived in Mont Claire – my husband was a commercial photographer and our business was all in New York. I used to go into the city and I was a volunteer at Memorial Sloan Kettering. I never went through the ropes that people go through. A woman I had met at a lunch took me back to the volunteer office and we chatted, and I became a volunteer – I didn’t go through the program or anything.
JD: You were “grandmothered” in.
EAS: Yes, I guess so. But I got my exercise in with all the walking in New York. I was always walking – and I wore high heels, you know, I was part of that generation. I ruined my feet. I only wear sneakers now.
MW: Did you eat healthy?
EAS: All the time. I always ate well.
MW: There ya go. What about drinking?
EAS: I was a social drinker. I was social smoker. I would light the cigarette, especially when my husband and I split. I would go somewhere and light the cigarette. I was no smoker, but it was an occupation. You had your cigarette lighter, and you brought your pack with the blue label or whatever it was.
MW: It was something to do.
EAS: Well, yeah, because you would go into a place, you’d be alone going to a meeting or anything, and people smoked – so it was an occupation – you’re standing by yourself until you get into it …
JD: You were occupying a space waiting. It was almost like an invitation – “Can you light my cigarette?”
EAS: Oh no! I wasn’t inviting.
JD: Oh.
EAS: (hysterically laughing) I got independent.
JD: Oh.
EAS: You know I have seven children.
JD: Right.
EAS: So, it was like the little mouse peeked over the wall and saw, “Wow! There’s a whole lot out there.”
JD: Stuff you hadn’t seen while you were raising kids?
EAS: Well, I saw some of it, but I was never in it.
MW: How old were you when you got married?
EAS: The week before I turned 20. I had four children by the time I was 28. It was beautiful, you know – it’s what people did. The war was over before that time. I was at the tail end of that crowd. America was in a different frame of mind. Everyone had come home.
JD: We haven’t really experienced that in our lifetime. We haven’t had a world war where it was so big.
EAS: Right, not like that. And when the Korean War happened, that was a horrible war. The Korean vets suffered more than any of us realized, and the toll was not so much about the battle of the guns, it was the battle they were fighting with the drugs and stuff. It was a different generation, they had different input, and they didn’t know how to fight that battle.
MW: Vietnam, too.
EAS: Vietnam the same thing. We had a house at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, and there was a whole enclave of Vietnam vets, and those men suffered so much in their lives.
JD: I don’t think PTSD was really discussed back then.
EAS: No one even understood it! They were embarrassed or ashamed and they were suffering.
JD: Right, because they were supposed to be tough …
EAS: That’s right. “Suck it up!”
JD: Before the cameras came on, we were talking about kids on their phones all day these days, but I will say mental health has become something that no one is afraid to talk about anymore.
MW: What role has faith played in your life?
EAS: Faith has really pulled me through – many times when I didn’t even know I had the faith. And I wasn’t even thinking about my faith. We get into trouble in our lives, you know, all of us.
MW: We sure do.
JD: I got in trouble today.
EAS: (laughs loudly)
JD: You know, but luckily …
EAS: Well, you got enough stamina left to come here, so …
JD: Stamina has never been my problem.
MW: His mouth is the problem.
EAS: You know, sometimes you can’t help it when you get in trouble.
JD: What was the first family car you remember?
EAS: When my husband and I were first married (we got married six months after we met) we had a Kaiser. I told him I knew how to drive. So, he let me drive. And we came out of the driveway and around the corner and I drove right up onto someone’s lawn. (laughs hysterically). That was my first real drive.
MW: How long were you married?
EAS: Oh, let’s see … we were married in 1950… and we had all those kids … probably 35 years. We did eventually divorce. But the Lord blessed me in every way. I am happy every day.
MW: What was your best decade?
EAS: Oh, they were all very wonderful.
JD: Growing up in New York City, were you a Broadway person, or a sports person, or did you go see music?
EAS: I always loved music. I wasn’t a Broadway person because that took money in those days. But when I was nine years old, I had a little radio – it was probably $3. On a Saturday afternoon, I put that little radio on, and I heard the first broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera.
JD: Oh wow.
EAS: From then on, I loved the opera. My youngest daughter trained in voice, but never went anywhere with it.
MW: What did you do for fun when you were younger?
EAS: I always went to see movies at the Roxy. I grew up on Shirley Temple films.
MW: She must have been a big star at the time.
EAS: I remember one time I was crying so hard … I don’t remember what the movie was, but they must have been killing her or something, and my mother had to take me outside. I was probably five or six years old (laughing).
MW: I think I missed the one where they killed Shirley Temple.
EAS: Well, you know, they treated her badly in some of those films. We had wonderful films in America when I was growing up. We had Cecil B DeMille …
JD: What! You mean better than Dumb & Dumber?
EAS: Yeah. (laughing)
JD: Well, now everyone’s phones are entertaining them.
EAS: They are. They don’t have to go anywhere. It’s a whole different scene – but what will it do to our part of what we put in?
JD: We don’t know yet – but we do know what it’s doing to our culture. We think it’s making us smarter.
EAS: See, I don’t feel that way.
MW: I agree with you Evelyn.
JD: I was kind of joking. Creating things is different now.
EAS: It sure is, and when the computer stuff all began, I was very “anti” all of it. And that was a mistake on my part – because I haven’t kept up with it. I have a cell phone, and I can get a lot of things on there – I know how to text. But that’s as far as I went because I really resented what I saw happening socially, just with my kids and grandkids, and I had a built-in resistance to it.
JD: Well sure.
EAS: But a lot of other older people didn’t resist it – so they’re in with it – and they know how to handle it.
JD: Well, you know we feel that way. And we’re only – well, Maggie is 29, and I’m …
EAS: You’re just a baby, Maggie!
JD: She’s 29 … and I’m 52. We think we know…
EAS: He’s really 52?
MW: He’s really 52.
EAS: Well, you’re in your prime.
JD: Well … you still seem like you are in your prime!
EAS: I love my life.
JD: You seem like you’re doing great right now. You don’t seem like you need help.
EAS: So far so good! The Lord has blessed me.
JD: Wait, hold on – do you need a man?
EAS: NO! (laughing) Been there, done that! But I still think that some men are cute. But I don’t want one. (laughs hysterically)
JD: Window shopping is fine. Or like you can go to the petting zoo … like if you want to pet me (Jevon takes off his hat and lets Evelyn rub his head, laughing), and then I’ll just go back in my cage.
EAS: (still laughing)
JD: What are some things that you like to do every day?
EAS: Get up!
JD: Right?! How long do you sleep?
EAS: I go to bed about 11:30 p.m. and I get up at about 7:30 or 7:45. Some mornings I get up earlier – because I have a job.
JD: What do you mean you have a job?
EAS: So, I went to the Anglican Church – and you know, I love it. I love the pomp and circumstance of it. I do. They carry the cross, they have hymn books in the pews, and a woman playing the organ. I love to get dressed up for church. I go there on Thursdays and answer the phone at the desk. I have a driver that takes me.
JD: We are going to be late to our next interview.
EAS: Goodbye, God bless you!
MW: Evelyn, you are literally the best.
