OTHERWORDLY
Last April, theatre company Pup-
peteers forFears revived their
2016 blockbusterCattle Mutila-
tion: The Musical!at the Oregon
FringeFestival in Ashland, Oregon,
before touring theWest Coast until
August. It tells the story of two
duelling parent-child relationships,
one from Earth and another from
the Crab Nebula, and what hap-
pens when they all get mixed up
on a late-night search for Bigfoot.
nightmarishconjurings.com, 20
Mar 2019.MUCHTOO FRIENDLY
When a 67-year-old Chinese man
surnamed Liu returned to his
house inYongzhou City, Hunan
province, on 11February, hewas
knocked out by something falling
from the sky. His 60lb (27kg)
husky,excited to see him, had
jumped 23ft (7m) from the second
fl oor of his house, landing on top of
him and breaking his neck, requir-
ing corrective surgery. The dogwas
uninjured.thaivisa.com, 14Feb
2019.SHEEPISH SUCCESSION
The new mayor of Lewes in East
Sussex is Councillor John Lamb. He
succeeds Councillor Janet Baah.
(Stop tittering at the back of the
council chamber.)Sussex Express,
24 May 2019.WHEELPASSION
A woman won an insurance payout
after a frisky horse tried to have
sex with her car.Aviva agreed to
compensate her for repairs to
crumpled metal and scratched
paint where the stallion had scrab-
bled to get a foothold.Sun, 11 April
2019.FT383 11SIDELINES...MARTIN ROSSand three of theirfi ve children.
His family had run a hot springs
inn in Ashoro, Hokkaido, for
four generations. It is now run
by his granddaughter,Yuko.
The fastest-aging country in the
world, Japan as of September
2018 had a centenarian
population of 69,785, nearly
90 per cent of themwomen.
[AP, PA] 20Jan; D.Mirror,
irishexaminer.com, 21Jan 2019.- A day after Nonaka’s death,a
woman called Nanu Shaova died
in the Caucasusregion – in the
Russianrepublic of Kabardino-
Balkaria. Her passport gave
her age as 127, and in 2017
the Russia Book of Records
register her as the country’s
oldest person. She claimed to
remember the month of her
birth as May 1900, but not the
exact date.Eve. Standard, 22Jan
- Koku Istambulova, a Chechen
Muslimwoman who never went
to school and claimed never
to ha ve had a happy day in
her life, died on 27January at
the supposed age of 129years
and six months. State pension
records gave her date of birth
as June 1889, without a specific
date.D.Express, 7Feb 2019. - On 9 March, KaneTanaka,
116, was recognisedby Guinness
World Records as theworld’s
oldest living person. Shewas
born on 2January 1903, the
seventh of eightchildren. She
married HideoTanaka in 1922,
had four children and adopted
another. She lives in arest
home in Fukuoka,Japan. She is
usually upby 6am and enjoys
calligraphy, calculations and
the board game Othello.Sunday
Express, 10 Mar 2019.- Britain’s oldest men–
RobertWeighton from Alton,
Hampshire, and Alfred Smith
from St Madoes,Perthshire–
both born on 29 March 1908,
turned 111 thisyear [FT371:7].
Theyhave never met but have
exchanged birthday cards in
recent years.BBC News, 29 Mar;
Dundee Courier & Advertiser, 30
Mar; D.Telegraph, 10June 2019. - Following Olive Boar’s
death lastAugust, Grace
Jones became Britain’s oldest
person. Coincidentally, there
was another GraceJones
supercentenarian, a south
Londoner born in 1899, who
died aged 113years and 342
days in 2013 [FT330:15]. Grace
Jones Junior, known to her
family as‘Amazing Grace’,
was born in Liverpool on 16
September 1906 and died
at her home in Broadway,
Worcestershire, on 7June 2019,
aged 112years and 264 days.
The former millineryfactory
owner (whose maiden name is
not given in any pressreports)
marriedchief engineer Leonard
RoderickJones in 1933 in
Liverpool. Bothwere children of
vicars. He died in 1986, aged 79.
The restless couple lived
in 28 homes in Liverpool,
Devon, Cheshire, NorthWales
and Worcestershire. She
fi nally moved to Mickleton,
Worcestershire, in 2005 to be
near her daughter, Deirdre
McCarthy. Amazing Grace said
the secret to her long lifewas
a nightcap ofFamous Grouse
single malt whiskyevery
eveningfor the last 62years.
Deirdre, 80, said of her mother:
“She dideverything with style,
never grumbled andwas al ways
active... She doesn’tworry. She’s
always said, ‘Worry doesn’t do
you any good at all’.” The oldest
person in Britain is now thought
to be DorothyPayne, 111, of
Sevenoaks,Kent, born on 5
August 1907.
Moderate whisky
consumption has been linked
with avariety of health benefits
includingweight loss, lower
risk of dementia andreduced
risk of stroke. A study from
theRowett Research Institute
in Aberdeenfound whisky also
helped protect against coronary
heart diseaseby raising
antioxidant levels in the body.
These antioxidants originate
from the oak barrels used to
store whisky during maturation.
Theyhelp to counteract
destructive chemicals in the
blood that hasten the ageing
process.dailymail.co.uk, 16 Sept;
irishpost.com, 21 Sept 2018; BBC
News, 13June; Metro, D.Mirror,
D.Mail, 14June 2019.- Giuseppina Robucciwas said
to be Europe’s oldest person.
She was born on 20 March 1903
in the southern Italian town
of Poggio Imperiale, and died
in the same town on 18June,
aged 116years and 90 days. She
was born 77 days after Kane
Tanaka, the current longevity
world record holder (seeabove).
Known locally as NonnaPeppa,
Robucci hadfi ve children, nine
grandchildren and 16great-
grandchildren. Sheran a coffee
bar with her husbandfor years,
and had been named “honorary
mayor” in 2012. Italy previously
claimed theworld’s oldest
woman. Emma Morano, the last
living personverifiedto ha ve
been born in the 19th century,
died on 15April 2017, aged 117
years and 137 days [FT354:22,
365:22].[AP] 19June 2019.
For our lastround-up of super
centenarians, seeFT371:6-7.
OLIVIER DOULIERY-POOL / GETTY IMAGES
STRANGEDAYS