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Good People Who Did Not Die Young

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    Good People Who Did Not Die Young

    Perhaps we've done this before, but all the threads about great musicians or others who die fairly young, while so many evil people seem to never die, made me wonder what examples there are of peaceful, decent people - or as well as is humanly possible - and lived to be pretty old.

    A few great people in my family lived a long time. Our favorite distant cousin in Ravensburg, BW is 95 and called my parents during a few months ago just to see how they were.

    But maybe some uplifting famous examples.

    Mandela made it to 95

    Dr Seuss made it to 87

    Desmond Tutu is 89. He's alright, I think.

    The Dalai Lama is 80, I think. Big hitter, the Lama.

    Stephen Hawking lived to be 76, which isn't old by general standards but very old for somebody with ALS, I'm told. He seemed to be basically a good sort.

    Ram Dass recently died at 88 despite being in a lot of pain from a stroke for the last decade or so. He helped a lot of people.

    George Burns seemed like a decent sort. Lived to 100. Same with Bob Hope. He wasn't really funny, but he did some good things, I suppose.

    Kids author Beverly Clearly lived to be 103

    Norman Lear is still hanging in there at 98. He made important, great TV and has done a lot for great causes

    Mel Brooks is 94

    His good buddy Carl Reiner made it to 98

    Einstein made it to 76. Not bad.

    Darwin made it to 73. Pretty good for the era.

    Earl Bakken, the founder of Medtronic, gave away a ton of money and his inventions saved a lot of lives. He lived to be 94

    #2
    America's third greatest President ever is 96 and still going.

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      #3
      Possibly the most popular man or woman in the UK, Sir David Attenborough is 94.

      The British Oskar Schindler, Sir Nicholas Winton was 106 when he pegged out.

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        #4
        Civil Rights veterans who are still alive include James Lawson, born a year before MLK, still here at 92; Diane Nash, 82; Andrew Young, 88. Fred Shuttlesworth died aged 89.

        Sports: I think Pele (80) counts as a good person. Bobby Charlton 83, Gary Sobers 84.

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          #5
          Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
          America's third greatest President ever is 96 and still going.
          Good point. I wasn't sure if simply being president would disqualify him.

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            #6
            Originally posted by Nocturnal Submission View Post
            Possibly the most popular man or woman in the UK, Sir David Attenborough is 94.

            The British Oskar Schindler, Sir Nicholas Winton was 106 when he pegged out.
            David Attenborough was one of my childhood heroes.

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              #7
              Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
              America's third greatest President ever is 96 and still going.
              Which of Washington, Lincoln, and FDR is/are not in your top-3?

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                #8
                Eric Carle is 91. I've been to his museum of picture book art in Massachusetts. It was brilliant.

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                  #9
                  Eric Hobsbawm made it to 95, and the Irish sports commentator, Micheal O'Muircheartaigh recently celebrated his 90th birthday.

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                    #10
                    Even better news for HP, as the Dalai Lama is in fact 85 this year.

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                      #11
                      Helmut Schmidt died at 96. There are quite a few things where I might disagree with Schmidt, but he was a decent man.

                      In South Africa, Mandela's great mentor, Walter Sisulu, reached the age of 90. Last surviving Treason Trialist Andrew Mlangeni died in July at 95. Sisulu's saintly wife Albertina, a giant in the struggle in her own right, died at 92.

                      Most Treason Trialists lived into old age. Aside from Mandela, Sisulu and Mlangeni, there are Ahmed Kathadra, Raymond Mhlaba and Denis Goldberg (all died at 87) and the excellent Arthur Goldreuch (who escaped during the trial; a great story in its own right) and Lionel Bernstein died at 81.

                      Treason Trial lawyer George Bizos, another prince among men, died in September at 92, and the world is a poorer place for it.

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                        #12
                        Tove Jansson made it to 86, and semi-retired with her partner to an island on the coast somewhere between Helsinki and Porvoo for the last few decades of her life. Not bad.

                        Saxophonist Sonny Rollins is no longer playing now, but at 90 still links backs to bebop and gives incredible interviews now and then.

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                          #13
                          Don Bradman deserves a mention. Probably the greatest cricketer ever, he served as a Test selector and an administrator for several decades after he put his bat away. Born in 1908, he lived to see the new millennium.

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                            #14
                            George Clinton is 79 - he was tweeting about the Presidential election today, and I'm looking forward to seeing him next May in Margate.

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                              #15
                              Frank Oz is 76. I don't think he voices muppets any more.

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                                #16
                                Tom Jones is 80. Still got the pipes.

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                                  #17
                                  Michael D Higgins is 80 next birthday, and still serving as President of Ireland.

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                                    #18
                                    Claude Monet was 86 when he died. I took Mrs Thistle to L'Orangerie to see the Waterlilies. I told her it was built for them but she didn't realise the paintings were so vast.

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                                      #19
                                      Renoir got to 78. Does impressionism aid longevity?

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                                        #20
                                        What's the age of entry, 80?

                                        Author Margaret Atwood, is a decent person as well as being an excellent writer.

                                        Biologist, Environmental Activist, Broadcaster and Academic David Suzuki, is 84, and I can testify he's a wonderful teacher.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                                          Renoir got to 78. Does impressionism aid longevity?
                                          Artists have a tendency to die young or live to a ripe old age. See also Matisse, Picasso et al.

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                                            #22
                                            Bob Newhart is 91. He was the funniest thing in the last 5 years of The Big Bang Theory

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by G-Man View Post
                                              Helmut Schmidt died at 96. There are quite a few things where I might disagree with Schmidt, but he was a decent man.
                                              And every smoker's friend. He was famous for lighting up on German TV long after various restrictions had come into force.

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                                                #24
                                                Rosa Tarlovsky de Roisinblit, a founding member of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo who campaigned against Argentina's military dictatorship and have worked ever since to find the children born in torture facilities and then taken from their parents and given to junta-sympathetic families, is 101 and counting. Obviously none of the members are in the first flush of youth, but she's the oldest who's still alive (and also the organisation's first vice-president)

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                                                  #25
                                                  Children's author Judith Kerr made it to 95.

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