“If you were to rise before dawn on Christmas Eve, and walk down the empty Hackney Rd past the dark shopfronts in the early morning, you would very likely see a mysterious glow emanating from the workshop at the rear of number forty-five where spindles for staircases are made. If you were to stop and press your face against the glass, peering further into the depths of the gloom, you would see a shower of wood chips flying magically into the air, illuminated by a single light, and falling like snow into the shadowy interior of the workshop where wood turner Maurice Franklin, who was born upstairs above the shop in 1920, has been working at his lathe since 1933 when he began his apprenticeship.”

Wonderful personality piece from Spitalfields Life on the life of Maurice Franklin, a 90 year old wood turner in London. Pushes many of my buttons: history, craftsmanship, passion. Plenty to aspire to.

“Jack LaLanne was prodding Americans to get off their couches and into the gym decades before it was cool. And he was still pumping iron and pushing fruits and vegetables decades past most Americans’ retirement age. The fitness fanatic ate well and exercised — and made it his mission to make sure everyone did the same — right up to the end at age 96.”

Just assumed this guy was going to live forever.