ironguides

ironguides bids a fond farewell to Rose Hacker who died on Monday, February 4 2008 aged 102 years young in London, England.

Many obituaries will be written about Rose these days and I am not going to attempt to improve upon what those who knew her well and long and profoundly will have to say about her. In fact, I never even met Rose Hacker.

But Rose represented something deeply important to me and many others who knew of her if not directly. Rose was a lifelong activist, a free spirit eternally young and eternally motivated to improve the world around her in whatever capacity she could. She was also the world's oldest syndicated columnist, writing for the Camden New Journal via dictation to her helper and point man Bernard Miller, himself a mere spring chicken at age 79 these days.

I have been in an ongoing, sporadic email correspondence with Bernard since spring of 2007 trying to set up a meeting with Rose to meet her, to hear what she has to say, and to seek input into one of those "back burner projects" called "Life 101: Words From the Wise" I have been turning over for some years.

Rose represented the kind of wisdom we all aspire to, and to which for reasons better or worse we somehow fail to live up in such a consistent way. The difference between Rose and I was that Rose did. She acted upon her words, upon her beliefs. Rose practised what she preached. At age 102, Rose's daily schedule was chocker-block full, as these recent words from Bernard illustrate only to well:

If she's intending to curtail the column-writing, she hasn't told me and I was with her on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, trying to slow her down a bit, because she is frail.  She showed this by doing the following.  In addition to working during the day on Wednesday she went to a concert at Wigmore Hall in the evening.  On Thursday during the day she had her hair done, went to Kenwood to celebrate her son's 74th birthday and in the evening I took her and another 101 year old friend to see Mark Thomas, the political stand-up comic who was performing at The Arts Depot in Finchley.  After the show they stayed around for nearly an hour in order to talk to him about his political campaigning.  On Friday we went to the British Press Gazette's annual regional awards where, entirely to her surprise, it was announced that the Guinness Book of Records has named her officially the world's oldest working columnist.  There she was toasted and congratulated by more than 300 members of the British media.  And on Friday evening she went to give a talk on mental health to a mental health community group in Islington.

"People expect me to be some decrepit old thing, which I am, but it is important to keep making the effort...life is for living..."

One word encapsulates Rose: Do. She was a lifelong peace activist, former fashion buyer, politician and sex therapist and became a journalist at the age of 100. Upon hearing the news this morning of her death, I sit and wonder: What the hell was I thinking? Why did I not leap, jump, run at the opportunity to meet this incredible person? I was planning to...soon...next time I'm in London...when I have this sorted out, or that, or take care of this business, or that, this, the other...and on it goes, on and on.

Each day counts. Every moment matters. Look around, consider it.

Farewell, Rose Hacker -- and thank you. At 102, you taught me that life is short.