07-05-2020, 09:34 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-05-2020, 09:52 PM by Tim Randal Walker.)
(11-22-2018, 02:21 PM)Tim Randal Walker Wrote: Other classifications for old age are similar, but begin the Old-Old phase at 85. I think this is probably more accurate than the distinctions that I posted earlier. Middle-Old would be divided in two parts by the fragility barrier-late seventies, and the early eighties. Past the fragility barrier one is living on borrowed time.I'm thinking that we are seeing the last gasp of old Civic late wavers, at least in terms of being noticed. By the deaths of very old celebrities, such as Vera Lynn (at age 103) and Kirk Douglas (at age 103). Because they are remembered by the aging Idealists, from their youth.
Prower2a's comments would seem to fit this, with 84 being the usual cut off point for participation in public life. The fields he mentioned as exceptions, such as politics or the arts, may be not require that much physical prowess. If memory serves me right, he once mentioned journalism as another exception.
Of course, the Old-old phase suggests a time scale similar to what S & H described. A long ago event may not have disappeared from living memory, but those memories may have little or no influence on public reactions to present day events.
Beyond one's early hundreds, there likely aren't any celebrities left from your generation. The oldest individuals may get a bit of attention from being the oldest individuals, but likely weren't famous otherwise.