Steve Franklin - Celebrate 100: centenarian secrets to success in business and life

CONTENTS

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Copyright 2013 by Steve Franklin, PhD, and Lynn Peters Adler, JD. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Franklin, Steve, 1947

Celebrate 100 : centenarian secrets to success in business and life/Steve Franklin and Lynn Peters Adler.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-118-52564-7 (cloth)ISBN 978-1-118-56774-6ISBN 978-1-118-56762-3

1. Centenarians. 2. Longevity. 3. Success. 4. Success in business.

I. Adler, Lynn Peters, 1943- II. Title. III. Title: Celebrate one hundred.

HQ1061.F657 2013

650.1dc23

2013006163

To all the gracious, generous Centenarians and their lovely families who shared precious time and priceless wisdom with us for the benefit of current and future generations.

FOREWORD

I am a centenarian wannabe.

Reaching 100 is a great life goal because I have heard that not many people die over 100!

My good friend Steve Franklin and his colleague Lynn Adler have written books, articles, and given speeches all over the world, and Celebrate 100: Centenarian Secrets for Success in Business and Life is their best work ever.

Their combined videotaping, interviewing, and surveying of over 500 centenarians to capture their wisdom and advice about money, work, and life is a wonderful accomplishment. Working hard to share their priceless secrets and wisdom with the younger generation through this book is a great contribution to our society.

The English writer Samuel Johnson said that most people dont need to be taught anything newthey just need to be reminded to do what they already know they should be doing.

For some of you, the wisdom and advice presented in Celebrate 100 will teach you some new ideas that I hope you will put into practice if you want to live a long and prosperous life. For the rest of you, Celebrate 100 will be an enjoyable reminder of what you already know you should be doing to live a full and productive life, no matter how long you live.

I hope you will embrace and practice the centenarian secrets about money, work, and life as you enjoy their interesting stories, witty comments, and observations from over a century of dynamic change and living life to the fullest.

As Steve and Lynn suggest, listen to them, learn from them, and laugh with them.

If you do, you just might make it into the Centenarian Club, too.

Im planning on it!

S. Truett Cathy

Founder and Chairman

Chick-fil-A, Inc.

Introduction

Century-Old Questions... Century-Old Answers

You can do anything you want if you just put your mind on it and start working.

Besse Cooper, 116, former school teacher

Many answers to the challenging questions of life today are found in the wisdom of those who have traveled this road before us. We seek answers to our troubling economy, answers to an uncertain future, and answers that will lead to financial security, emotional stability, meaningful relationships, enjoyable work, and living life longer, healthier, and larger. What if the answers, the secrets, to many of these challenges about money, work, and life could be found in the authentic wisdom and experiences from the past and present in Americas centenarians? And, what if we fail to capture that wisdom and experiencethose secretsand share them with the younger generation? We set out to find these answers by interviewing Americas oldest generation.

Celebrate 100 is the distilled essence of over 5000 combined years of wisdom, wit, insight, perspective, and advice about life from over 500 centenarians who have lived it with determination, resolve, and excellence.

They come from all across our great nation and represent the many different cultures of our rich heritage, and they comprise all of our diverse socioeconomic strata.

They live in the country, the suburbs, and the cities. They have worked on farms and in factories, warehouses, offices, and in their homes. They have worked in government and in the private sector. They have been employees, bosses, and entrepreneurs. They have been married and divorced. They have laughed and crieda lot. They have seen babies born and loved ones die. They are athletic and not so athletic. They are compliant and they are mavericks. They are conservative and they are liberal. They are religious and not so religious. They have served in the military and they have supported our troops. They have lived through the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World Wars I and II, Elvis, the Beatles, the Internet, Cable News, space travel, and our current economic, social, and political challenges. They are giversnot takers.

They are witty and they are wise.

We traveled across America meeting with these special people whose ages ranged from 100 to over 116. We captured their goldmine of wisdom and advice through over 250 hours of videotaped interviews, extensive written questionnaires, and telephone interviews. They were born in 30 different states and in 13 foreign countries, creating a kaleidoscope of background, dialogue, and history. Many were themselves first-generation Americans.