When great aunt Alice (Penney) Junkins passed away in 1989, she left the Penney/Parker memorabilia to Janice. Once she began going through the bibles, letters and private poems, she realized how important family history was and penned her first self-published book, Dear Relatives, for family members. To please the Irish heritage on her mother’s side, she then self-published The Murphy’s.

For many years Janice was the editor of The Saugonian Newspaper and also wrote weekly columns in the Saugus Advertiser entitled Remember When, recalling the history of her home town. In 2003, the Saugus Historical Society published My Home Town, a booklet full of her family stories. Her latest publication, A Boy Named Andrzej, is a biography of a young boy whose entire family was captured in the Nazi invasion of Poland.

A former Selectman and Town Meeting Member, Janice has served as President of the Marleah E. Graves (MEG) Foundation for the past thirteen years. A widow, mother of four, and grandmother of ten, Janice hopes her family will treasure the history of their ancestors and appreciate the spiritual connection they all share.