Notable

Local architect builds on his love of history in new biography

BY JANIE GOULD

Don Armstrong was key to the rebirth of the old Stuart Feed Store as the Stuart Heritage Museum. There is no admission fee for the museum, which is open every day. JOHN BIONDO

A retired architect with deep roots in Martin County has built on his long-standing interest in historic preservation to write about the nation’s midcentury history as seen through the eyes, and especially the ears, of a journalist who covered the popular music scene from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Don Armstrong, 74, spent 10 years on a “labor of love” to research and write The Life and Writings of Ralph J. Gleason, about the journalist who was described by the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie as “America’s number one jazz writer,” when Gleason’s death was announced at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1975.

Armstrong’s earlier work revitalizing Stuart’s downtown and saving one of its distinctive buildings could also be described as a labor of love. He was instrumental in bringing about the rebirth of the 1901 Stuart Feed Store building as the Stuart Heritage Museum — which marked its 33rd anniversary last year. He was also the first president of Stuart Heritage.