My god, is he still alive!

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Rog Peek
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 01:55 PM

Sliabh Luachra a cultural area in the South West of Ireland has a reputation for longevity in its inhabitants. One day, I was enquiring of an elderly resident the validity of this reputation.
"Is it true" I said "that people in these parts live a long life"
"It is" he replied, "the men live to a great age, and the women live forever!"

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Neil
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 02:44 PM

Back when he was still alive Robert Johnson used to take his stepson into Clarksdale Mississippi with him where they would each take one side of the river and play for tips. Some say that the boy was so good you could close your eyes and not know which side of the river you were on.
   In the forties that boy teamed up with Sonny Boy Williamson II to broadcast the first all blues radio show (sponsored by The King Biscuit Flour Co).During his career he also played with Willie Dixon, Otis Spahn, Little Walter and Muddy Waters to name a few. He was an early influence of B.B> King who he played with in Memphis.
   His name was Robert Lockwood Jr. (aka Robert Junior Lockwood) and he was brilliant, flawless and oh so smooth. Robert died last November at the age of 91. He was still playing regular Wednsday night gigs in downtown Cleveland, Oh.
   I never regretted standing for hours in a cold rain with my long-suffering wife to see him play in 2005. Nor will I ever forget it.
   Good bye Robert. You will be missed.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 07:40 PM

Wesley S told us:

There is a highly fictionalized account of Wyatt Earp in Hollywood called "Sunset". It stars James Garner as Earp and Bruce Willis as Tom Mix.

That sort of movie will never let you know that Wyatt Earp and his brothers were real bad-asses--bullies, gunmen, abusers of office, hated and feared by most of the populace--everything you wouldn't really want in a lawman.   Sort of the fox twisting the rooster's tail to force his appointment as Marshal of Chickencoop City.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 07:57 PM

Wyatt and Mattie Earp emigrated from Tombstone after the famous shoot-out or gun-down - opinions are still all over the map. The eventuallyl arrived in San Diego in the mid to late 1880's, where he invested in real estate and gambling venues (probably including prostition)and refereed prize fights. A couple of the buildings he occupied are still in existence in our "Gaslamp Quarter," in the old part of downtown. They then went to Alaska, where he did the same things to take advantage of the Klondike Gold Rush. It's odd that he "died with his boots on" in Los Angeles, surrounded by movie pals he'd made - all of whom probably bought into the legend and cared little for the real story. And, he didn't look anything like either Kurt Russell or Hugh O'Brien. Kevin Costner probably came closest visually, but made him too sympathetic a figure, as most did.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 07:58 PM

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Mike in DC
Date: 23 Aug 07 - 11:33 PM

Leopold Stokowski signed a ten year record deal when he was 92 or 93. I don't believe he made it all the way through though.

Mike

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 04:50 PM

My mother just passed away at the age of 100. She once played a piano.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 05:03 PM

Sorry TJ......But she certainly had a long run and I hope it was a great one.

Best,

Spaw

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: frogprince
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 05:22 PM

Pardon me for this, but who all hear remember when Saturday Night Live spent all season announcing on the "Weekend Update" that General Franco of Spain was "still dead".

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 05:25 PM

Me.....and he still is.....as far as you know........


Spaw

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Joe_F
Date: 14 Apr 09 - 08:10 PM

When I was little, there were people who it seemed had *already* lived forever. One of them was Bertrand Russell, and another was George Bernard Shaw.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Elmore
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 10:36 AM

Dave "honeyboy" Edwards who knew, and worked with Robert Johnson is still alive, and touring.He's 93 and has a distinctive guitar style. I saw him a few months ago.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Rog Peek
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 11:50 AM

Les Paul, 93 and still gigging.

Eli Wallach, 93

Kirk Douglas, 92

and Karl Malden was 97 on March 22nd

Rog

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 03:55 PM

For some reason, an old Dorothy Parker quote comes to mind. When someone told her Calvin Coolidge had passed away, she asked, "How do they know?"

My favorite was an old family friend, a retired Navy doctor and flight surgeon who had a family practice for many years. His wife passed away when he was in his early 90's and we invited him to join us for Christmas dinner at our home. He was delighted to come and spent time after dinner talking of his early life. He grew up in Danville, Va., as he told me. I remembered a verse from the song, "The Wreck of the Old 97," in which the town is mentioneds. "Oh," he remarked, "they got a lot of the details wrong in that song." When I asked how he knew, he explained that his father had been the town doctor in Danville at the time of the train wreck. He, as a 13-year-old boy, had hitched his father's team and driven him to the wreck, where he administered morphine to those that survived and administered to all who could be helped. I'd never met anyone who had been at the actual site of something which had been celebrated in folk song.

The doctor, a very kind Virginia gentleman of the old school, passed away at the age of 99 while watering his lawn.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Amos
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 04:41 PM

I am happy to report that Sam Hinton is still alive, although he has retired to a senior place in the Northwest.

A

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 05:10 PM

We sure miss Sam in San Diego, where he was active for many years with Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the local community of folk music lovers. It's good to know he's still with us. He's left quite a legacy behind already.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Genie
Date: 15 Apr 09 - 05:13 PM

I just read (in another thread here) that George Beverly Shea is still alive at 100 y.o.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Rafflesbear
Date: 16 Apr 09 - 05:16 PM

I always find it sad when I hear of the death of someone I thought was dead long ago - it's just that it's too late to celebrate the joy of finding out that they are still alive because they're not ...

but I can still celebrate Dave Swarbrick having read in the Daily Telegraph of his death in 1999 - and he IS still alive

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Allen in Oz
Date: 17 Apr 09 - 03:47 AM

I played recently in a nursing home in Sydney Australia where they were celebrating the birthday of resident TWINS who turned 100 that week

In the same nursing home last year was a lady who had nursed Lawrence of Arabia

They breed them tough out here in OZ

AD

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,James in Cambridge
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 06:27 PM

Pete Seeger is still alive, and last I heard still singing! My sister knows his daughter.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Amergin
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 06:55 PM

A great of mine died not too long ago...she was 99. Her brothers were moonshiners and rum runners.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Effsee
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 10:51 PM

Well, I'm always a bit surprised when I open my eyes of a morning...

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Amos
Date: 30 Mar 10 - 11:16 PM

And Sam has passed on since my last post here, I am sorry to say.

A

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Beer
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 12:05 AM

Amergin!
Were were they from. Just a State or Province would be fine. In my earlier days all my booze was purchased from honest folks.
Adrien

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 01:12 AM

If you notice, quite a few of the people listed here in '07 have since died: Utah, Fess Parker, Salinger, Mitch Miller, Peter Graves, Les Paul, Ernest Borgnine, George Beverly Shea, Patty Andrews...

Suddenly, I'm not certain of some of them: Is Mitch Miller gone? Ernest Borgnine?

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Chris B (Born Again Scouser)
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 04:54 AM

My grandfather emigrated to the US when he was 16 in the late 1880s. The story is that one of his jobs was as a labourer on the Brooklyn Bridge while they were still builiding it. I always point it out to my daughter when we see in on TV or on a movie - she always says 'is that the bridge my great-grandad built?' Indeed it is...

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: scouse
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 04:59 AM

Heard this morning that Stirling Moss whom I thought had gone to the big "Racing Circuit." in the sky had recently walked into the "lift shaft." of his house a fell braking only his Ankles.Furthermore, he hopes to be back behind the wheel of a car by May.. As Aye,
Phil.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Amergin
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 05:01 AM

Beer, they were up in Montana, north of Missoula.

Ebbie, Ernest Borgnine is still around...still working in fact.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Ramsey Nickleback
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 06:57 AM

The great London folk performer Tom Jenkinson, who records as Squarepusher wrote and recorded a marvellous tribute to Earnest Borgine, which can be heard here - http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=2CHV44WpKw4

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Mr Red
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 07:47 AM

Jackie Toaduff
He was featured in the EDS magazine this issue. Doubt he is doing much clogging, but he is still inspiring the likes of the cloggers in the Demon Barber Roadshow.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 Mar 10 - 10:20 AM

Keith Richard will never live to be as old as he looks.

Dave H

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: frogprince
Date: 14 May 10 - 01:30 PM

I mentioned Doris Eaton Travis on this thread a couple of years ago. My father-in-law managed a farm for her late husband, Paul Travis, for many years. The FIL attended her 106th birthday party a month or so ago. She died tuesday.

The last of the Ziegfield girls

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: glueman
Date: 14 May 10 - 01:50 PM

My mother was born in a Zeppelin raid, yet I have a 3 year old son. My uncle is in his late 90s and his mother died at 100 as did her father, yet my uncle's father died very young in WW1 before he was born. He pre-deceased his wife by 70 years and she never re-married. Most of his family make 100.
I was once to my uncle's uncle's cottage as a youngster and he told me the furniture he sat on as a child was from Napoleon's time.

This sounds like a school arithmatic test, doesn't it. Life is weird.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 14 May 10 - 05:21 PM

As children, we often went down from California to visit my Dad's mother and father in Beaumont, Texas (mid-forties to mid-fifties). My cousins and I would often visit a closet under a staircase off the dining room where my grandfather kept his father's civil war uniform, bugle and a big Colt .44 Army model percussion revolver that weighed about 2 1/2 pounds. It makes you wonder if those fast-draw guys had one arm larger than the other. His father was the first white settler at Sabine Pass, circa 1825.

One cousin was a signer of the Texas declaration of independence from Mexico. Another two fought at San Jacinto under Houston. My Dad's grandmother, who lived until around 1924, remembered her father hosting Sam Houston in their home at Sabine Pass while a young girl. None of them appear to have been particularly musical, save one great-aunt, who was a piano teacher. My Dad tried, but sounded a lot like Harry Truman, who had trouble with minor chords too.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Tannywheeler
Date: 18 May 10 - 01:21 PM

I go with "Thank you, God. He's still alive", whenever I think of Pete Seeger(& his wonderful Toshi). Not only still alive, but still teaching(by doing)how to live a free, just, healthy, happy life. Doesn't take much to remember Woody, Leadbelly. Friends of the family. If God is ever cruel enough to take her from us, I will be able to say I knew Jean Ritchie, too. Met Josh White(& his son while he was early teen). Roger Sprung is, I think, still with us, somewhere up there in the frozen wastelands(anywhere no. of Dallas). & always, Thank God for Doc Watson...Tw

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Don Firth
Date: 18 May 10 - 02:00 PM

Yes, I am.

Deal with it!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Bugsy
Date: 18 May 10 - 08:37 PM

I'm sure that George Bush jr is still alive. Unfortunately his brain died when he was a child.

CHeers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,PSzymeczek
Date: 18 May 10 - 10:50 PM

George Beverly Shea is still alive, according to Wikipedia.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Stringsinger
Date: 19 May 10 - 06:13 PM

Bertand Russell Lived to 98.

Subject: Ray Whitley
From: GUEST,The Bistro, Atlanta, Ga.
Date: 28 Jun 10 - 06:21 PM

Last I heard, Ray Whitley, composer of I've Been Hurt. Run, Run, Look and See, Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy is still living in NorthEast Atlanta near the Lowery Music Group headquarters on Clairmont Rd. What an interesting guy during the 60's and early 70's.
He played at The Bistro on West Peachtree St. Club is now gone, but they have a website at www.bistroatlanta.com

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: LadyJean
Date: 29 Jun 10 - 12:12 AM

My cousin John Caldwell, who died in 2005, had known people who could remember John Morgan's Ohio raid. Talking to him was the next best thing to actual time travel. He told us about great great uncle Solomon Eversull, who had been one of the first settlers in the Ohio territory and lived to be more than 100. He told us about how his grandfather, my great grandfather, had played poker with Warren G. Harding, and kept the silver dollar he won. One night he produced the target great grandfather had hit, almost dead center, firing the openning shot of the Cincinnatti Gun Club's annual shooting match. I wonder if it was the one where Phoebe Anne Moses (who would be Annie Oakley) met her husband Frank Butler.

As a freshman in college I got to know an elderly lady who lived near my dorm. I was taking a womens' history course, and we were learning about the suffrage movement of the early twentieth century. I mentioned it to her, and she told me about going to the first meeting of the League of Women Voters and MEETING everyone I had been reading about.

But the best one I have, is something I found in a book about the Charge of the Light Brigade. The last survivor lived well into the 1920s. Either one of my parents could have spoken to him and would have remembered.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: semiotic
Date: 29 Jun 10 - 07:48 PM

My father used to tell me that when he was in school (1920s) he shook the hand of an old man who's father fought on the plains of Waterloo. But then I live in a house that was old when they discovered that van Dieman's Land is an island.
My Wife met both Ursula Vaughn-Williams and Maud Karpeles many times when she worked at Cecil Sharp House.
...and we're not drawing our pensions yet!

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 29 Jun 10 - 11:02 PM

Apparently nobody recognized my nominee back at:

Date: 24 Apr 07 - 03:11 PM

We never thought he'd last this long when he looked like THIS!

Check the link, and see if you recognize him from ca. 1956. Then note:

Almost as amazing as that the link is still good, is that now he is still touring 200 days per year, at 77, and looks kinda like this.

John

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: LadyJean
Date: 30 Jun 10 - 12:27 AM

My dad died on April 13, 1981 at one in the afternoon, having lunched, as he did every weekday, with Mr. Tolstoy Fabiani, the son of one of Garibaldi's veterans.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Stuart Lutz
Date: 30 Jun 10 - 01:41 PM

You all may enjoy my oral history book The Last Leaf (www.TheLastLeaf.com). I interview the last Civil War widows (the last died in 2008), the last US World War I soldier (still alive at 109), the final pitcher to surrender a home run to Babe Ruth, the last suffragette, Houdini's final stagehand (she's still alive), the last Pearl Harbor Day Medal of Honor winner, and dozens more.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,TJ in San Diego
Date: 30 Jun 10 - 02:12 PM

We just lost John Finn, Medal of Honor winner of Pearl Harbor fame. He had lived and been active in our area for many years and was a revered attendee at many public events until very recently, especially those celebrating our armed forces. I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with him twice. That generation, of which Mr. Finn was a special member, is rapidly leaving us. Heroes, as he told me, are ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances. No one ever plans to be and successfully becomes one.

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: pdq
Date: 30 Jun 10 - 05:22 PM

Thanks to a recent introduction to an Irish site thats love US bluegrass music...

Curly Sechler, 90

...his friend and leader of the Medicine Show, which once had Marty Stuart in it...

Tommy Scott, 93

...and member of Mainer's Mountaineers from the 1930s...

Wade Mainer, 103

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,old techie
Date: 30 Jun 10 - 05:35 PM

Chuck Berry, still rockin'

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: Effsee
Date: 30 Jun 10 - 11:04 PM

Stuart Lutz..."I interview the last Civil War widows (the last died in 2008)"... the American Civil War finished in 1865, just how old was this lady?

Subject: RE: My god, is he still alive!
From: GUEST,Stuart Lutz
Date: 01 Jul 10 - 07:28 AM

All three final Civil War widows lived into their 90s. They were teenaged girls who married 80something Civil War vets in the 1920s or 1930s. The last Union pension was paid until 2003.