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For many gerontologists, Jeanne Calment is almost what Joan of Arc is for the French. A symbol, a legend, a saint. The longevity record of
Jeanne of Arles, set at 122 years and 164 days, is known to every true aging fighter. Since Jeanne set it in 1997 nobody managed to break it or even get close â the second place barely exceeds 119 years, and the third stands at 117. Of those contenders who stand any chance â i.e. those who are presently alive â the oldest ones are just 115 years old. Given that after age 100 the annual probability of dying is about 1/2, the chances of a centenarian living to 122 are incredibly small.
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Who knew when Ruth Apilado sent out the first thousand copies of AIM
(America’s Intercultural Magazine) from a home office at 73rd Street and Eberhardt Avenue in 1973, that she still would be receiving submissions of poems, short stories and essays at age 113?
When I first met Apilado in 1977, she told me she had retired from teaching in order to launch a publication to promote racial harmony. It had been a dream of hers since the 1960’s, when she drove from Chicago to Mississippi with her son, knocking on doors to extol the benefits of integration, cautioning young Myron, “If you see me give a signal, run like hell.”