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8 Inspirational Older People
Published on 3/26/2009 under People - by Gracie Murano -TAGS: Inspiring Elderly
Olive Riley (108-year-old): World's Oldest Blogger
NOTE: our reader Eric wrote us to explain an even older blogger was discovered after Olive's death.
Buster Martin (102-year-old): UK's Oldest Employee and Marathon Runner
If the claims about his age are true, he could be the oldest recorded marathon participant in the world. However, officials of the Guinness World Records organization said that they did not consider Martin eligible for the record because he had never provided proof is his age.
Winifred Pristell (70-year-old): Holds two World Records in Powerlifting
Even though she has been struggling lately with arthritis and joint issues, at 70 Winifred still works out three days a week.
Jennifer Figge (56-year-old): First Woman to Swim the Atlantic
The 56-year-old left the Cape Verde Islands off Africa's western coast on Jan. 12, battling waves of up to 30 feet (9 meters) and strong winds. She had originally planned to swim the Bahamas, but inclement weather forced her to veer 1,000 miles (1,610 kms) off course to Trinidad.
The Great Omani (92-year-old): World's Oldest Escapologist
To impress audiences he put himself in great danger during many of his stunts using fire, water and glass at his local pub the Bedford Tavern in Brighton. It was here where he performed his last stunt in 2005. This was the escape out of handcuffs with both arms on fire with lighter fluid. He died in Brighton, East Sussex after a whisky and a cigar at his home on October 15, 2007. His last request was for a trapdoor in the hearse at his funeral. He wrote a short poem, which was read at the occasion: “They lay the Great Omani in his box / They have done it up with nails not locks / But at his funeral do not despair / Chances are he won't be there.”
Arthur Winston (100-year-old): Worked for 72 years at the same company and only took one day off
Bernie Marks (78-year-old): Oldest Man to have a Bar Mitzvah
When he was 13, he was living in a Polish ghetto under Nazi rule. Later, his family was sent to Auschwitz where he last saw his mother and brother. Marks and his father were sent to a labor camp until they were liberated by US forces in 1945. So now, 66 years later, in a strong, melodic voice that moved some at Sacramento Congregation B'nai Israel to tears, Marks chanted the Hebrew passages with his daughters and grandchildren looking on.
Brownie Mary (70-year-old): Medical Cannabis Activist
"My kids [people with AIDS and cancer] need this and I'm ready to go to jail for my principles... I'm not going to cut any deals with them. If I go to jail, I go to jail," she once said.
She was named a "Living Saint" in 1994 at the San Francisco Saints Alive Benefit. In 1997 the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence dubbed her "Saint Brownie Fucking Mary" at Mary's request as she was a lifelong atheist. Mary was also included in the Sisters' Nuns of the Above AIDS Memorial Quilt for her work with and advocating for people with AIDS. Brownie Mary died of a heart attack at a Laguna Honda nursing home for the poor at age 77.
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