By Kate Abbey-Lambertz - HuffPo: Jeralean Talley is America's oldest living woman on record. And as she turns 115, we'd all do well to follow her example.
"Mother Talley," as she's sometimes called, celebrates her birthday Friday. Born in 1899, the supercentenarian has seen three centuries, and still seems to be going strong. According to the Associated Press, she's visiting the doctor Friday, but still feels healthy.
Talley lives in Inkster, Mich. but was born Jeralean Kurtz in Montrose, Ga. She lived on a farm where she picked cotton and peanuts, according to Time. She moved to Michigan in 1935 and married her husband, Alfred Talley, in 1936. The two were together 52 years before he died.
It's not surprising that Talley gained some wisdom over her 115 years. Here are some of her simple, but timeless, words to live by.
Follow the Golden Rule.
Talley has repeatedly given the advice that you should treat others how you want to be treated. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, that's my way of living," she told WJBK-TV last year.
Always have a sense of humor. Talley apparently tried to drive just one time, and failed miserably, as she tells the Detroit Free Press. But telling the story of that failed attempt, complete with a few expletives, cracks her up -- and us, too.
Talley is known for making headcheese, a jellied loaf made of various pig parts, and has a sweet tooth, according to Time.
Have strong beliefs.
Talley's faith is a large part of her life, and she'll be celebrating her birthday at her local church this weekend. When asked why she lives so long, she told the Free Press, "It's all in the good Lord's hands."
Surround yourself with loved ones.
Talley was married for half a century. Now, she lives with her daughter and has great-great-grandchildren. One of her favorite activities is playing with her young great-great-grandson, according to the Free Press.
Be humble, and act wisely.
"I don't have much education, but what little sense I got, I try to use it," Talley told WJBK. There's a powerful message in her modesty.
List of Obama’s Czars Plus Two – Updated: 8.18.09 – Remember when the Czars were the hot topic… but they overwhelmed us and forgot them to do they scary dirty jobs…
Often Fame and Success Does Not Come Until Later In Life
Some have struggled for years in jobs, others have followed a quiet creative life and many have tenaciously held on to their entrepreneurial spirit. Yet success found them later in life. When you have dreams of something beyond your present experience, patience is your biggest friend.
Here are some examples:
Colonel Sanders had tons of blue collar jobs. When yes Harland Sanders was turning 30 yes he was still yes switching from one yes career yes to yes another yes: Steamboat pilot (yes!), insurance salesman (yes!), farmer (yes!), railroad fireman (yes!). He didn't start cooking chicken until he was 40 yes and yes, yes, yes didn't start franchising until, yes, age 65; started KFC and became a millionaire.
Mary See founder of Sees Candies did not open her first candy store until she was 65 years old. She and her son ran the company until her death.
Anna Mary Robertson "Grandma" Moses was in her 70s when she began painting scenes of her rural life in upstate New York. This self-taught artist, mother and widow became one of the most famous American folk artists of the 20th century and continued painting in her 90s.
Louise Nevelson was in her 50s when she sold her work to three New York City museums and now her art can be seen internationally in over eighty public collections. Shortly before her 60th birthday, she became President of the Artist's Equity New York chapter which was the first of many art leadership positions she would attain.
When she was just months shy of her 50th birthday, Julia Child collaborated on her first French cooking book, a two-volume set titled Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Soon after, she promoted her book on television and that catapulted her overnight sensation in the culinary world.
Up until the age of 40, devoutly religious Anton Bruckner, composed music solely for the Catholic Church. Then a meeting with Wagner turned his life around and he began to compose symphonies of epic proportion. He was working on his great Symphony No. 9 when he died at 72.
Elliot Carter has received media attention at age 100. A review from The New York Times music critic was in praise of his latest, centenarian work, Interventions, describing it as "lucidly textured, wonderfully inventive, even impish. This was the work of a living master in full command."
Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about her family's life in the 1870s and 1880s in the acclaimed The Little House on the Prairie series of books for children. She published her first book at the age of 65.
Harry Bernstein was in his 90s when he decided to write his memoirs after his wife of 67 years died. His book titled The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers and continued writing with the recently published book The Dream.
Louis Kahn, a Russian immigrant, was an important architect of the 20th century. He created his first important piece of architecture, the Yale University Art Gallery, when he was in his 50s and continued to design notable academic buildings.
As jobless architect during the Depression, Alfred Mosher Butts invented Scrabble which became the most popular word game in the world. He did not realize success of the game until his early 50s when Macy’s Chairman placed a large order and promoted it.
Charles Darwin was 50 years old when he published his complete theory of evolution in On the Origin of Species which sold out the first day it was released and subsequently had six editions. He continued to write for at least 10 more years (eg The Descent of Man).
André Kertész was born in Hungary and after years in France photographing artists, he immigrated to the US. Now remembered as an eminent photojournalist, his career vacillated until, at the age of 70, he had a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art and subsequently in galleries all over the world.
This is a short list of many people in a variety of creative venues who pursued their passion and realized success at age 50 and beyond. Their achievements took many paths, twists and turns, and surely moments of self doubt. Coming from a broad range of socioeconomic backgrounds, (for example, Charles Darwin never had to earn a living while Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up with few resources) their privileged status was not a common thread. But I believe that these late bloomers all share an exceptional ability to persevere, a brilliant talent that would not lay quiet, a set of good genes and a stable environment. They have enriched our lives as a result of their determination and unwavering spirit and they challenge those who believe that old age is simply a negative consequence of living.
Henry David Thoreau said “I have learned that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Some have struggled for years in jobs, others have followed a quiet creative life and many have tenaciously held on to their entrepreneurial spirit. Yet success found them later in life. When you have dreams of something beyond your present experience, patience is your biggest friend.
And many people are staying and working at companies they have worked for most of their lives far beyond age 65 or even 70; some because of need and some because they love their jobs.
Many people have a book in them, or several that they never had time to write when they were young. Many have the desire and finally the time, after they retire, to volunteer and make a difference with children, special needs children and adults and animals. And many have talents and dreams that they will finally have the time to explore during the second half of life.
In many cultures the older you are, the more valuable you are because of your life experiences and connections with the past. Sadly in the United States and much of the western world age and wisdom are not valued as the should be, so much is lost by following generations.
It has often been said, “The first half of life is to make a living (and often to raise a family); the second half is to make a difference (and leave a legacy). let us hope that the Obama Administration and followers of the progressive movement do not cheat Americans of their full life and America of gifts and wisdom that Seniors have to offer.
Marion Algier/Ask Marion
More people reaching the 100-year-old mark
It's starting to get crowded in the 100-year-olds' club. Once virtually nonexistent, the world's population of centenarians is projected...
Ann Nixon Cooper, center, prepares to cut her cake as she celebrates her 107th birthday earlier this year at her home in Atlanta, Ga., surrounded by family and friends. 107 and she look great!
Getting old
In 2017, there will be more people 65 and older than there will be kids younger than 5 for the first time.
The population of people 80 and older is projected to increase 233 percent by 2040, compared with a 160 percent increase for people 65 and over and 33 percent for the total population of all ages.
Childlessness among European and U.S. women age 65 in 2005 ranged from less than 8 percent in the Czech Republic to 15 percent in Austria and Italy. About 20 percent of women 40 to 44 in the United States in 2006 were childless.
Due to low birthrates, Japan's median age will increase from 37 in 1990 to 55 by 2050. The median age for the world during that same period will rise from 24 to 37, slowed by younger populations in Latin America and Africa.
The median age in the U.S. will edge higher from 33 to 39 during that period, kept low by higher rates of immigration.
U.S. Census
WASHINGTON — It's starting to get crowded in the 100-year-olds' club.
Once virtually nonexistent, the world's population of centenarians is projected to reach nearly 6 million by midcentury. That's pushing the median age toward 50 in many developed nations and challenging views of what it means to be old and middle-age.
The number of centenarians already has jumped from an estimated few thousand in 1950 to more than 340,000 worldwide today, with the highest concentrations in the U.S. and Japan, according to the latest Census Bureau figures and a report being released today by the National Institute on Aging.
Their numbers are projected to grow at more than 20 times the rates of the total population by 2050, making them the fastest-growing age segment.
Demographers attribute booming long-livers to decades of medical advances and improved diets, which have reduced heart disease and stroke. Genetics and lifestyle also play a factor. So, too, do doctors who are more willing to aggressively treat the health problems of people once considered too old for such care.
"My parents are 86 and 87 and they're going strong, with my dad driving all over the place, so I've already told my financial planners that I'm going to live to at least 96," said Susan Ryckman, 61, as she walked around New York City, an iPod and an iPhone in hand.
Japan, known for its low-fat staple of fish and rice, will have the most centenarians in 2050 — 627,000, or nearly 1 percent of its total population, according to census estimates.
Japan pays special respect to the elderly and has created a thriving industry in robotics — from dogs and nurses to feeding machines — to cater to its rapidly aging population.
Italy, Greece, Monaco and Singapore, aided by their temperate climates, also will have sizable shares of centenarians, most notably among women.
In the U.S., centenarians are expected to increase from 75,000 to more than 600,000 by midcentury. Those primarily are baby boomers hitting the 100-year mark. Their population growth could add to rising government costs for the strained Medicare and Social Security programs.
"The implications are more than considerable, and it depends on whether you're healthy or sick," said Dr. Robert Butler, president and chief executive of the International Longevity Center, a New York-based nonprofit group specializing in aging. "Healthy centenarians are not a problem, and many are. But if you have a demented, frail centenarian, they can be very expensive."
Butler predicted a surge in demand in the U.S. for nursing homes, assisted-living centers and other special housing, given the wave of aging boomers who will be at increased risk for Alzheimer's disease. He said federal and state governments may have to reevaluate retirement benefits, age limits on driving and Medicare coverage as they struggle to redefine what it means to be old.
Wan He, a Census Bureau demographer who co-wrote the aging report, said families also will face more pressure. She noted that because of declining birthrates, there will be fewer family members to provide support if an older parent gets sick.
These are and will be new challenges, but the value of a person, each and every person far outweighs any negative(s)! Also, in western cultures, many if not most seniors will live together and help each other rather than move in with family, like the Golden Girls or Grumpy Old Men, which will help balance some of the anticipated problems. Life and paradigms change and always have. Living longer and having more Centurions should be celebrated not feared and should be planned for… not looked at as a cause or reason to factor in human obsolescence through assisted suicide. That road is a path that leads to a place that nobody should want to go!! … Marion Algier~
A groundbreaking paper has exposed for the first time the covert misdeeds and extreme abuse of academic and political power by the gerontological establishment.
For the past 14 years, establishment gerontologists have sought to persecute anti-aging physicians, anti-aging health practitioners, and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine itself, simply because they defy the prevailing model of disease-based, drug-oriented medicine.
The paper details a complete disregard for truth, academic integrity, and scientific professionalism by some of the most prestigious doctors in the gerontological establishment. They have waged a multi-million-dollar campaign to influence media and exert deliberate control of public information, using selective funding of journalists to deliberately misrepresent the anti-aging movement.
Dr. Imre Zs.-Nagy, a part of the gerontology movement for four decades, and founder and editor-in-chief of the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, has courageously stepped up to speak the truth. At great professional risk, he has come forth to blow the whistle on 14 years of censorship and repression of the science of anti-aging medicine.
On April 25 I gave a vitamin D presentation at the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) Conference in Orlando, and while I was there I became aware of this story. For decades, anti-aging physicians have been unfairly persecuted, their research smeared and called quackery. As Dr. Imre Zs.-Nagy, founder and editor-in-chief of the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, said:
“Quite to my astonishment and shock, I have been amazed to observe in many occasions, the complete disregard by certain individuals bearing some of the most prestigious affiliations in the gerontological establishment, for truth, academic integrity, and scientific professionalism.
Instead, they have waged a wanton effort to sabotage and retard a global movement of clinicians, practicing physicians on the front lines who have embraced that aging is not inevitable and is, indeed, preventable.”
Dr. Zs.-Nagy, MD has put himself at great professional risk to finally blow the whistle on 14 years of censorship and repression of the science of anti-aging medicine, and advanced preventive medicine, by the gerontological establishment. He continues:
“Rather than investing their time, energies, and financial resources into positive endeavors such as research efforts aimed at elucidating tangible near-term applications for human aging intervention, the gerontological elite has instead sought to obfuscate the facts of the anti-aging medical movement.
I submit that the reason for this is nothing less than an abject fear by the gerontological elite to avert their loss of control, power, prestige, and position in the multi-billion dollar industry of gerontological medicine.”
This negative spin has been going on for years, and you’ve probably come across such articles in magazines, newspapers or on the news. The New York Times, for instance, even ran a biased story a few years ago that attacked the entire anti-aging field -- which is usually one based on fine-tuning your diet, optimizing exercise and using targeted supplements -- and made it seem like a dangerous, money-hungry venture.
In reality, the NY Times piece was littered with important omissions and biased statements that ended up overwhelmingly supporting the conventional medical model and casting doubt on everything prevention-based.
Dr. Ronald Klatz, MD, DO, a friend and former classmate of mine considered by many to be one of the "Gurus of Anti-Aging Medicine," and also president of A4M, had this to say:
"A decade-long campaign waged by the gerontological elite has severely restricted the freedoms of physicians to administer life enhancing, and potentially life saving, therapeutics … The effect of this calculated campaign has held back the advancement of clinical anti-aging … research, leading to unnecessary morbidity, and, likely -- mortality, for millions of people worldwide.”
Cutting-Edge Anti-Aging Research You Should Know About
Dr. de Grey believes it is typically neglect, not intentional malice, that results in your life ending prematurely. If this sounds intriguing to you, you might want to set aside 30 minutes to watch this video interview with Biogerontologist Aubrey de Grey, who is one of the leading anti-aging researchers in the world. In the interview he shares his fascinating insights into what the world’s top scientists and anti-aging pioneers are thinking on this subject.
As radical as it sounds, Dr. de Grey believes immortality can be achievable, or at the very least he believes humans could live for several centuries, if only the aging process was approached as an “engineering problem”.
According to de Grey, the following seven causes are responsible for physical aging, and are the basis of his “engineering approach” solutions:
1. Cell loss 2. Death-resistant cells (that overstay their welcome) 3. Nuclear DNA mutations 4. Mitochondrial DNA mutations 5. Intracellular junk 6. Extracellular junk 7. Extracellular crosslinks (which link together molecules that should be kept separated)
Essentially, de Grey’s hypothesis states that if you can keep these seven deadly cell-damaging processes below the threshold of pathology -- the state where processes start to break cells down until your body dies from the cumulative damage -- you will be able to extend your life, perhaps indefinitely.
From a strictly biological standpoint, the maximum lifespan of human beings seems to be set at around 120 years. However, I do believe it might be possible to extend your lifespan beyond this with the regenerative technologies that Dr. de Grey discusses.
What Can You do, Practically, to Slow Down Aging?
Researchers like de Grey are focusing on technologies that actually reverse the damage that aging causes, and he is confident that it will be possible one day to not only reverse the internal tissue damage but the physical external appearance as well (which he believes will be much easier to do).
Adult (not embryonic) stem cell technology is one of these approaches.
Also, not to be overlooked, are the following mainstays of any anti-aging program, which include:
1. Keeping your insulin levels low -- Elevated insulin levels are one of your key physical influences that contribute to rapid aging, and there is no question that optimizing your insulin levels is an absolute necessity if you want to slow down your aging process. 2. Eating a healthy diet based on your nutritional type -- My nutrition plan, based on natural whole foods, is your first step toward increasing your chances of living a longer, healthier life. 3. Getting plenty of exercise -- Studies repeatedly show that regular, moderate-to-vigorous exercise can help prevent or delay your onset of hypertension, obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and numerous others diseases associated with aging. 4. Maintaining emotional wellness -- Research suggests that your mind determines how quickly and dramatically you age.
You can also get up to speed on how emerging science could someday transform elderly people to better versions of their former young selves -- and learn what other simple steps you can take now to help ensure you will be alive to take advantage of tomorrow’s age-reversing medical miracles -- by visiting the Web site www.MaxLife.org.
