Inez Harries and Venice Shaw, born 1911
Identical twins Inez Harries and Venice Shaw were so similar growing up that sometimes their parents couldn’t tell them apart. Harries passed shortly after their 103rd birthday, with Venice at her side. “Be honest, give lots of love, and keep a close family,” Harries said.
When Paul Mobley embarked on a journey to photograph centenarians across the United States, his dad suggested that he ask everyone what the secret to longevity is. When he did, he got a plethora of heartfelt answers, like “basic human kindness.” But also, “Eat three pieces of bacon every day.”
Mobley sought to capture every year lived in the eyes of his weathered subjects. To do that, he felt he needed to understand them on a deeper level. “I wanted to breathe the air, see the scenery, eat lunch at the local diner — get a sense of the community that this person was living in,” he wrote in the book. So he decided he would accomplish this by turning the project into a road trip of the continental United States. The result is in “If I Live to Be 100: The Wisdom of Centenarians” by Mobley with text by Allison Milionis. (Welcome Books, 2016).
Mobley was constantly surprised by the energy and liveliness of his subjects. They were still leading engaged, active lives. “I discovered a treasure trove of ideas and lessons on how we can all live gracefully and with meaning as we travel toward our final sunset,” he wrote.
Josefina Sadama, born 1915
Sadama was born and raised in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States in 1966, finally joining her husband who had moved there 20 years prior. She still prefers to speak in her native Ilocano.
Jeralean Talley, born 1899
After her husband, Alfred, died at the age of 98, Talley continued to live for years in the home they built together. She told Mobley, “I’ll be here as long as he lets me be here. But when he tires of me, he’ll take me away.”
Audrey James, born 1914
James’s application for nursing school was denied because of her race. She went on to have a career as a teacher, retiring in 1978.
Walter Jackson, 1903
Jackson came from tough beginnings, having to step up responsibilities in his family after his father died in 1924. He later purchased a small parcel of land with his brother, planting citrus trees. They nurtured it into a successful business.
Henry Miller, born 1914
Miller served as a radio man in the Navy and later became a mechanic at Spartan Aircraft Co.
Freddie Griffin, born 1914, and Prentice Harrington, born 1912
Griffin and Harrington are the two remaining siblings of six. Both believe their happy upbringing set the groundwork for their happy lives.
Thelma Arnold, born 1915
“Three drinks is my max, because I don’t want to mess up my lipstick and hair — or stumble and fall!” she told Mobley.