“The most important key to longevity is avoiding worry, stress, and tension.” George Burns, “How to Live to be 100”
Bob Hope and George Burns
The first centenarians that come to mind are Rose Kennedy (1890-1995), who outlived three of her four sons, including one killed during World War II and two (JFK and RFK) slain by assassins’ bullets, and comedian George Burns (1896-1996), who was appearing on Late Night shows in his nineties with a cigar, albeit unlit. Fellow comedian Bob Hope (1903-2003) once quipped that the secret to staying young was to hang around with older people. Painter Grandma Moses (1860-1961) believed the secret to a long life is keeping busy. Queen Mother Elizabeth (1900-2002) recommended living “as if tomorrow you’ll be run over by a big red bus.” Harry S Truman (1884-1972) claimed the key to longevity is taking a two-mile walk before breakfast. Jimmy Carter, our oldest former president, believed he still had more of God’s word to do on earth. I have my blog, duties as Calumet Regional Archives co-director, occasional speaking engagements, plus bridge, bowling, and, most of all, family.
Newest finds at Chesterton library: The Flaming Lips performing “The Soft Bulletin” with Colorado Symphony Orchestra and a new Jimmy Eat World CD, “Survivor,” whose title song contains these lines:
In a lot of ways
You’re still that lost kid
You can still survive
But not exactly live
“Judy Ayers wrote about a “dear old friend” in the Winter 2020 Ayers realtors Newsletter:
Laura Jones, born 102 years ago on June 30th, 1917, has known me longer than any other person on earth, having been a neighbor of my family since I was born and raised on Hancock Street just two doors away from where Laura lives today. She was among the first group of students who went to Miller School and grew up with kids from the 8 or 10 houses at that time on Hancock Street. She remembers most of the houses being built. Miller was a full-fledged community at that time with businesses and professional offices. A good way to get to downtown Gary was to take the streetcar that traveled from Lake Street down what we know as Miller Avenue to Broadway.
Laura graduated from high school in 1936 but decided to take an extra year of classes in order to be able to work in an office. She remembers at that time women didn’t work outside their homes unless they were teachers or nurses. Because of her extra training, she was hired by a neighbor, Mr. Jackson, who was the head of the Gary office of Railway Express – a national package delivery service that used existing railroad infrastructure to safely and rapidly deliver parcels, money and goods during World War I. The office was located where the New York Central and B & O railways converged in Gary at 3rd and Broadway, and she worked there for 30 years. When the war started and most of the men working at Railway Express had been drafted or had enlisted, Mr. Jackson asked Laura to help people get on and off the train, point them in the right direction, and be the one to accept packages and deliveries. When the US Army took over the operation of Railway Express, she more than once had to convince the Army she was more than capable of doing her job and could actually be quite helpful. She has fabulous stories about animals on their way to Lincoln Park Zoo, traveling nuns, a dead guy in the men’s bathroom, two United States Presidents passing through – all just trying to get from one place to another.
Laura met her husband, Sam, when he and his father, who owned a movie theater in Gary, set up a program during the war to show second run movies on week nights in local schools – Miller School being one. Sam had graduated from college with a degree in architectural engineering and was working at US Steel when drafted by the army. Because of his education and with further training in the military, he was assigned to a project and that didn’t allow him to give Laura much detail, nor could he tell Laura exactly what his role was and why he was transferred from Alabama to the University of Iowa to New York. Sam called her often, and during one particular call Laura told him she had been listening to the radio the night before and heard about the bombing of Japan. It was then Sam could tell her he had been working on the development of the “A Bomb.” Later he received written recognition for his military contribution.
The message I get after spending time with Laura is not that her life has been one big, funny, wisdom-packed adventure. She certainly has the effects of physical decline, which she best describes with words not always befitting when spoken by a lady. She has trouble with her hearing aids and her vision is beyond poor. She moves from room to room, yet in her own home with the aid of a walker that should probably be fitted with a governor. Yet she always has a list of things she wants to accomplish – be it clean out a drawer, pay her bills or look forward to the next outing with her more than reliable and dedicated health care giver, Wayne. She delights in telling stories of days gone by, but she always talks about what she hopes to do tomorrow. Maybe the message before my very eyes is that happiness is a choice we make. We probably shouldn’t worry about what might happen and then just adapt when it does.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” is back on HBO for a tenth season. The first several episodes deal humorously (some might say tastelessly) with Larry David being accused of sexually harassing women. Sadly, Shelley Berman, who played his father Nat, passed away at age 92, and Bob Einstein, whose deadpan expressions were a hoot as Marty Funkhouser, died at age 77. In a memorable season 4 episode titled “The Survivor,” Larry invites Holocaust survivor Solly (actor Allan Rich, born in 1926) to dinner and he has a heated argument with a guest named Colby who’d been on the reality TV show “Survivor” over how rough each had had it. Here’s a sample of the dialogue:
Colby: So, here we are in a region of Australia where, out of the world's ten most deadly snakes, nine of 'em inhabit this region. It was harrowing. You come across a taipan on the trail, you get bit, you're dead in thirty minutes flat.
Solly: Oy, I'll tell you, that's a very interesting story, let me tell you. I was in a concentration camp! You never even suffered one minute in your life compared to what I went through!
Colby: Look, I'm saying- I'm saying we spent 42 days trying to survive and we had very little rations, no snacks...
Solly: Snacks? What you talking, "snacks"? We didn't eat sometimes for a week! For a month! We ate nothing!...
Toni and I enjoyed the Agatha Christie-inspired whodunnit “Knives Out” with an all-star cast that included Christopher Plummer as an 85-year-old mystery writer, Jamie Lee Curtis as his headstrong daughter, Daniel Craig (most famous for James Bond flicks) as a detective, and Don Johnson of “Miami Vice” fame. Looking for films we both might like, I discovered it was playing at the Cinemark in Valparaiso.
Super Bowl LIV in Miami did not disappoint, especially the Latin-flavored halftime extravaganza starring Jennifer Lopez (50) and Shakira (43) defying the laws of aging in a high energy performance. With JLo’s daughter Emme leading a children choir in a scene with children in cages, strands of “Born in the USA” could be heard when JLo unveiled a Puerto Rican flag. I was pleased that Kansas City prevailed, just their second NFL championship, the first coming 50 years ago coached by Gary native Hank Stram, famous for shouting on the sidelines during Super Bowl IV, “Just keep matriculating the ball down the field boys!” Kansas City had lost in the first Super Bowl when Gary native Fred “The Hammer” Williamson suffered a broken arm early in the contest. Andy Reid, who had coached the Philadelphia Eagles for many years before joining the Chiefs, previously had the most victories by someone who had never won a Super Bowl. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes again rallied his team from a ten-point fourth-quarter deficit on three touchdown drives to seal the 31-20 victory.
Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes in Disneyland
Gamblers bet millions on a myriad of Super Bowl scenarios, some as inane as the coin flip or how long the national anthem would last. One could wager on whether or not Mahomes would rush for more than 30 yards. With just a minute remaining, he had gained 44 yards on the ground; running out the clock on the three final plays, he purposely kneeled down 5, 3, and 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, reducing his total for the game to just 29, costing high rollers big bucks. Several friends posted a Trump tweet congratulating the Chiefs, who, he claimed, “represented the Great State of Kansas so very well.” Of course, the Chiefs play in Kansas City, Missouri.
In one of Barb Walczak’s final Newsletters she profiled bridge newcomer and Miller resident Gosia Caldwell, who owned a business in Poland but came to America 19 years ago to be a nanny. Walczak wrote that in addition to bridge, Gosia “is a voracious reader, loves the theater, and likes to dance.”
Chubby Checker in 2019
In “When We Get to Surf City” Bob Greene described watching a blond woman “in the shortest of skirts” rushing the stage during a Chubby Checker performance at an Oldies concert in St. Louis, leaping on him and wrapping her arms and legs around his neck and waist. Chubby kept twisting as he sang, and Greene wondered how he kept from tumbling onto the stage floor. Jan and dean played a Clearwater, Florida, hospital fundraiser with Jerry Lee Lewis, backed by Elvis Presley’s former lead guitar player James Burton. Jerry Lee’s eyes looked both dead and angry, Greene wrote, like “someone who had been insulted in ways no one could understand.” During the show Greene spotted a young woman whose t-shirt read, "JUST EAT ME.” Back at the century-old Belleview Biltmore, recently purchased by a Japanese company, Greene met a woman in her 80s who’d been vacationing there for a half-century and once danced to a tuxedoed orchestra in its once ornate ballroom.
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