Elder Style: Doris Eaton Travis

One of my favourite illustrated books is Lauren Redniss' gorgeous book, Century Girl, about the life of Doris Eaton Travis:

"When Doris Eaton was born on March 14, 1904, the average American could expect to live 47 years. Today, at 102, the 5' 2," blue-eyed Virginia native has already lived more than two of these life spans.

In 1918, Doris kicked up the youngest pair of legs in the bedazzling, feathered chorus line of Florenz Ziegfeld's annual Follies stage spectacular. For her 100th birthday in 2004, Doris was back on the same Broadway stage, in black taffeta skirt and silver heels, leading a conga line of a dozen dancers.

By the time she received her honorary doctorate at age 101, Doris had starred in silent and talking pictures, performed for presidents and princesses, bantered with Babe Ruth, offended Henry Ford, outlived six siblings, wrote a newspaper column, hosted a television show, earned a phi beta kappa degree in history (at 88), raised turkeys, and raced horses."

Here's a picture of Doris at a young 105 years old!