Category: How Old Were They

Benjamin Franklin’s notable accomplishments occurred early and late in his life. He established the first public library at age 25 and the first official fire department at age 29. He was 70 when he signed the Declaration of Independence, the oldest Founding Father. In the intervening decades, he was a printer and publisher, shopkeeper, author (Poor Richard’s Almanac), inventor (he designed a heat-efficient stove and bifocals), scientist (experimenting with electricity), and diplomat. He died in 1790 at age 94. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

Benjamin Franklin left a mark from his 20s to his 90s

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

Henry Bergh was 53 when he founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) in 1866, after witnessing the harsh treatment of horses by teamsters in Tsarist Russia. Eight years later, the wealthy New Yorker also helped found the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC). When Bergh died in 1888, at age 75, 39 states had enacted laws against animal cruelty. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

Appalled by the harsh treatment of horses, Henry Bergh devoted his life to preventing cruelty to animals

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

The life of crime of Billy the Kid (William H. Bonney) began at age 16. Born Henry McCarty in 1859 to Irish immigrants in New York City, his childhood was marked by hardship. After his mother died in 1875, he joined a rough crowd, was soon arrested, committed his first murder at 18, and was killed by sheriff Pat Garrett at 21. All told, the notorious outlaw was linked to nine murders and an untold number of robberies. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

A questionable folk hero of monumental mayhem

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

Mahatma Gandhi was 61 when he exemplified fighting for a cause in a nonviolent way. In 1930, seeking Indian independence, Gandhi led the Salt March to Dandi to protest the salt tax Britain had imposed. Weighing just 99 pounds, Gandhi walked 200 miles with his followers and illegally collected a block of salt. This act set off civil disobedience throughout the country, a pivotal moment in India’s fight for independence. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

Inspiring generations to use nonviolence to fight for a cause

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

Louis Braille invented the Braille Language For The Blind at 15. Born in France in 1809, he was blinded at the age of 3. While a student at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in 1824, he met Charles Barbier, an officer who had developed “sonography,” a system of written communication based on raised dots. Though the system was developed with the French Army in mind, Braille believed a similar method could be used by people who were blind and created what is now known the written language named for him. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

Braille’s language of raised dots enables the blind to read

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

Folk artist Grandma Moses (born Anna Mary Robertson Moses) began painting at 76, when her arthritic hands could no longer embroider. Not one to sit around idly after a life of farm work, she took up painting. She never had any formal art training, or much education at all, but an art dealer passing through her town of Eagle Bridge, NY saw her works in a drug store, bought them for a few dollars, and arranged to have them shown in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. At the time of her death, more than a thousand canvases later, she had paintings in museums as far away as Vienna and Paris. Grandma Moses died in 1961 at the age of 101. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.

You’re never too old to take up a new hobby

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

My novel Who Cares? which arrives December 02, 2025, is about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” The characters range in age from 9 to 90. This new series of posts reveals the amazing things done by people of all ages, from infants to centenarians. Read more about the book in NOVELS and enjoy the posts!

How old were people when they did noteworthy things?

Welcome to Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

Fittingly, the “Famous Friends” posts to promote my novel The Sister Knot, about the life-sustaining friendship between two women, ended with two women – Thelma & Louise – who seal their friendship with a death pact. The next series, “How Old Were They?” will promote my new novel Who Cares? which is about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” The posts will open your eyes to the amazing things people do, no matter their age, from infants to centenarians. Enjoy the new series. You can revisit all the “Famous Friends” posts as well as “Bad Dad” and “Survivor Stories” by clicking those categories. Or scroll the entire blog and enjoy whatever post you land on. Learn more about all my books in NOVELS.

Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die

How old were people when they did noteworthy things?