92-year-old grandpa becomes unexpected social media sensation with millions of views
Three elderly stars prove age is just a number in their latest achievements. From TikTok fame to stage performances these active seniors share their secrets for staying engaged in life
Modern society tends to avoid death-related topics‚ unlike our ancestors who had a closer relationship with mortality (Somerset Maughams story about Samarra shows this well). Back in the day people wrote funny poems about death and even tested their coffins - something that seems weird today
Around 13 years ago‚ the Spectator made a list of influential old-timers: David Attenborough‚ Dame Cleo Laine‚ and Bridget Riley who are still doing great stuff. But media still shows older folks in boring ways: just think about those super-white-toothed seniors in ads for hearing-aids and fancy retirement homes
Keep doing whatever you want to do; only do it more so
The past week brought us three cool examples of super-active seniors. Edwin Rayner became a hit on TikTok at 92 with his singing (getting almost 9-million views). Dame Judi Dench whos turning 90 next week keeps her schedule super-busy‚ while Roger Daltrey at 80 is planning a tour next year because he thinks its important to keep his voice in shape
This idea of staying active has deep roots - even Pliny wrote about some amazing old-timers like Lucceia who did stage shows at 100‚ and Galeria Coppola who kept performing till 104. These days archaeologist Dr Jamie Ingram found lots of old graffiti at the Tower of London; its funny how back then leaving your mark was ok but now we dont like it when tourists do the same thing
