Austin Petersen Review in the Regional Traditions Guide

Tips from a 100 year old man who is doing just that

What are your thoughts on places to retire?
Austin Petersen: “I started looking at possible places way back in 1955 when I took off nine months from work and flew the wife and twins to the Caribbean. Our first stop was the Virgin Islands which we found, had a lot going for it. In the two months we stayed there, we got beautiful tans and I started to feel healthy again. But, after the two months, we decided this wasn’t the place we were looking for. We went over to Nassau that had even nicer beaches. Here, we had a wonderful Negro mammy for the twins. She was terrific and we all loved her. However, at 2:00pm each weekday she would seat herself in front of the radio and listen to the soap operas coming from Miami and you better not even ask her for a glass of water during those two hours. But two months there was enough and we moved on to the Dominican Republic. Gorgeous beaches. Cheap living, too, but at that time it was a very poor country and a bit depressing.”

What other places have you sampled for retirement?
AP: “From the Dominican Republic we went on to Montego Bay and Ocho Rios in Jamaica. We loved it and stayed several months. However, I became “island happy” and bored and came back to New York and had lunch with my old friend Pat Weaver who by now was president of NBC. He gave me a job as consultant to a new radio series he was about to launch called Monitor. NBC asked me if I’d like to go on a publicity junket to South America as NBC’s representative. I would tape interviews along the way that would be released over Monitor. We were entertained and feasted royally by the President of Panama, by the big shots in Lima, Peru, Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires in Argentina.”

On that trip did you see any place you’d like to retire to?
AP: “There a number of interesting gated communities in Panama that cater to American and Canadian retirees, but I, personally, would be hesitant about retiring there.”

I understand you tried Cuernevaca and San Miguel de Allende?
AP: “We had friends who retired to San Miguel de Allende and they loved it. It’s an arty little village tucked away in the mountains and hundreds of Americans and Canadians have made it a part or full time home. There’s a university here, many art galleries and plenty to do. However, the altitude is 7,000 feet and that let’s us out. Cuernavaca, a nice little colonial town with an almost perfect climate at a healthy 5,000 foot altitude, but it is rather expensive. Many million dollar estates all over the place. Great if you’re loaded.”

How did you happen to pick Puerto Vallarta?
AP: “I first visited Puerto Vallarta way back in the early 1930's when the only way you could get there was by boat or plane. No roads. I flew in and we had to buzz the dirt field three times to get the cows off. Vallarta at that time was a tiny fishing village. The only tourist hotel was the Oceana that later became the hangout for The Night of the Iguana cast and crew.”

What attracted you to this area?
AP: “First, its location. It is situated on one of the most beautiful bays in the world and as a backdrop, it has the lofty, jungle clad Sierra Madres Mountains. The beaches that line the bay vary in color from gold to dazzling snow white. There’s a lot to do here. Scuba, snorkeling, swimming, sailing, tennis, jeep trips into the colorful interior, visit picturesque little villages in the deep forests, golf on gorgeous courses laid out by some of America’s foremost designers, water skiing, parasailing 200 feet into the sky! There’s also great shopping in the hundreds of shops in town, band concerts in the plaza, colorful Mexican dances, very active bars and cruises to interesting places like isolated Yelapa.”

How did you happen to pick the Marina area?
AP: “It is cheaper living in town but it can be crowded and noisy. We look out on the pool, the golden beach, the bay and the mountains in the background and we hear no traffic noise whatever. Only a boat whistles once in a while. The beach in front of our condo has an interesting event each fall. Hundreds of big sea turtles come to shore to lay their eggs. In the old days, these eggs were eagerly scooped up and eaten by hungry sea birds and natives who considered the eggs to be a delightful delicacy. Today the eggs are carefully picked up by employees at the Marriott resort next door, taken to a safe place where they remain until hatched. The young turtles are then put back into the sea.”

I understand you do a lot of traveling.
Austin Petersen: “All my life, although I’ve slowed down a bit in the past two years. To me, travel is the greatest escape from stress ever invented but don’t wait until you’re too old to enjoy it. In my youth, I wrote and produced radio shows that all seemed to air on Sundays with Saturday rehearsals. I never had a weekend off for years. Then, all of a sudden, in 1951, no Sunday shows! Weekends were free to enjoy. True, but to get away even for a weekend can do wonders for you.”

I guess so.
AP: “Way back in the 30's I worked free lance on radio shows so I was employed 39 weeks and laid off for the summer hiatus. The minute that last show of the season was aired in June, I was on a plane headed for the Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii or the South Seas. 24 hours later stress, anxiety, problems all disappeared. I was a new man.”

We don’t all have the time or money to travel overseas to relax.
AP: “Then travel wherever your budget will permit. Just get the hell out of town. Stay at home and you start feeling sorry for yourself.”

But back to those long trips, what destinations did you find the most rewarding?
AP: “Back in the late 1950's, I picked Tahiti and her islands for complete escape. Gorgeous scenery, exciting things to do: skydiving, scuba, sailing, paddling an outrigger, dancing, girls. It was cheap living, too.”

What travel destinations do you recommend?
AP: “In the 1930's and 40's I would travel to Mexico when I had a few days off; Guaymas, Mazatlan, San Miguel de Allende, Acapulco, Oaxaca, Fortin, Puerto Vallarta… One year my wife and I drove down to Cuernavaca on the recently completed Pan American highway. At a waterfall outside of town, I fell off a horse and broke an arm and my wife had to drive the 2,500 miles home by herself. The lesson? Never decide to ride a horse for the first time in your life at a destination thousands of miles from home.

What other trips stand out in your mind?
AP: “During the early 1960's, I did travel reports for Pan Am on islands all over the South Seas including American and Western Samoa, the Manua Islands made famous by Margaret Meade in her best selling book Coming of Age in Samoa, Fiji islands (Taveuni was my favorite), New Caledonia (wasn’t impressed with this one), Hong Kong (great for shopping), Tonga (a touch of the old South Seas) and Tahiti and her islands (Moorea, Bora Bora, Huahine, Raiatea and Tetiroa – Marlon Brando’s island).”

What was the most exciting trip you’ve ever been on?
AP: “That would have to be the time I went with Bob Hope up to Thule Air Base in Greenland to film a Colgate Comedy Hour. It was at Thule I discovered Hope’s secret for being able to appear fresh and relaxed; so at ease even after a 3,000 mile air trip and long rehearsals: Before every show he would seat himself in a chair, fold his arms, warn the crew not to bother him and he would nap (and I mean really nap). When he woke up, he was refreshed and eager to face his audience. There’s a good lesson in that little trick: If we could take a half hour nap at the office every day we could lick the world.”

If I did that my boss would probably say, “Get off your ass. No sleeping on my time!”
AP: “Getting a good night’s sleep is very important for your health. In a recent Gallup poll of 1,000 adults over 50 years of age, 30% admitted they were getting too little sleep. 25% said the problem was worry. 43% say they get up in the night to go to the bathroom. I am familiar with that routine. One good way to get enough sleep without a sleeping pill, according to Cornell University, is to darken the room so no light shows and have light music playing in the background. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle recommends an exercise session at least three hours before bedtime.”

You never feel your age?
Austin Petersen: “Not really. I’m so busy writing books it’s only when I come to a lull between them that, with nothing on my mind, I may start thinking about being 100 and suddenly feeling old. That feeling disappears the moment I start being active again”.

Activity is essential for longevity?
AP: “Very. Don’t just sit in front of a TV set with a can of beer in each hand and kid yourself into thinking you are being active. Get out in the yard and do some weeding. Take a half hour walk around the neighborhood, play golf, get active in a club (but don’t get too involved). Go to church. Meet people. Volunteer your services. Take your wife away for the weekend (pretend it’s your honeymoon). Just do something. Anything. Just keep active, mentally as well as physically. It’s one of the secrets of longevity”.

“IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO HAVE GOOD GENES FOR LIVING LONGER. JUST DO SOMETHING. KEEP YOURSELF ACTIVE, MENTALLY AS WELL AS PHYSICALLY. IT’S ONE OF THE SECRETS OF LONGEVITY”

To what do you attribute your longevity, good genes?
AP: “Only partly. My great grandmother came across the plains in a covered wagon during the 1849 gold rush to California, pregnant with twins. She smoked a corncob pipe until she died at the age of 104! No one ever told her smoking can shorten your life”.

So good genes are a good part of longevity…
AP: “Undoubtedly, but not everything. My grandmother, one of the twins, died in her early 70's. Most of her daughters and sons didn’t reach those really late years either. Genes didn’t seem to help them”.

How about your mother?
AP: “Mom was the exception. Unlike her sisters, she was thin all her life, ate sparingly. Her only exercise: housework. She lived the longest of all”.

Obviously, she didn’t smoke…
AP: “Never touched a cigarette until she was 85 years old”.

She took up smoking at 85? Didn’t anyone warn her?
AP: “Oh yes. She was living with a cousin of mine who tried to get her to stop but without success. She finally pleaded with the doctor to get mom to stop. He just laughed. ‘She’s 85 years old. She enjoys it. Leave her alone’. And mom kept puffing away until she died at the age of 94”.

The smoking finally did her in?
AP: “No, she fell and broke her hip. She never recovered from the fall”.

How about your father?
AP: “Unlike my frail mother, dad was big and husky. Worked hard all his life, smoked a pipe very seldom and drank moderately”.

He must have outlived your mother.
AP: “No, he died of a heart attack in his mid-60s”.

Overweight?
AP: “No”.

What then?
AP: “Eggs”.

You’re kidding.
AP: “He just plain ate too many eggs. He loved them. I have seen him devour a four or five egg omelets with delight, not just occasionally, but often. It wasn’t until rather recently that it was discovered that eating more than four eggs a week on a regular basis can possibly lead to a heart attack”.

Do you follow this advice yourself?
AP: “To the letter. More than four eggs? Out go the yolks of those over four”.

You have mentioned how essential it is to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit. Did you do this yourself?
AP. “My grandmother, who lived next door, had an immense garden with every kind of vegetable, from asparagus to zucchini. She also had an orchard boasting cherries, apricots, apples, peaches and plums, a berry patch with raspberries, strawberries, loganberries and black berries. I devoured fresh fruit and vegetables from the age of two until I left home at 19”.

Wow! With a vegetable and fruit diet like that you must have been the healthiest kid in school.
AP. “Believe it or not, no. By the time I had graduated from high school, I had had measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, scarlet fever, mumps, appendicitis and chicken pox”.

You ate all the right foods. How come?
AP. “I guess fruits and vegetables don’t protect you from childhood diseases, but they sure help us adults”.

What do you mean?
AP. “The US Department of Health, as I have mentioned before, says five to seven fruits and vegetables a day can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes, even certain forms of cancer including cancer of the stomach. All without a single pill”.

Even stomach cancer?
AP. “Yes. According to the National Institute of Health and Nutrition in Japan, such a diet can reduce the risk of stomach cancer by 30%”.

Didn’t I read someplace that the people in Okinawa, Japan, live to a remarkable old age?
AP. “Yes. Okinawans have the highest percentage of 100 year old people in the world. 50 per 100,000! One old gal, 102 years of age, still sells fish at a local market. Their main diet is sweet potatoes, carrots, fruits and whole grain products. Don’t smoke or drink. They keep lean all their life by being active, farming and fishing. Since the 1900's, life expectancy has increased from 51 to 80 for females; from 48 to 74 for males. Mortality rate in Okinawa is 81.2, in the US 76.8 (Ameristat). Local old joke: –You want to live to 100? Don’t smoke. Don’t drink. Don’t chase women. –And I’d live to be a hundred? –No, but it would seem like it”.

Do you still do a lot of swimming and walking?
AP. “I swim every day but my walking in the past six months, as I have mentioned, has been slowed down by a painful arthritic knee. Today I walk to the pool (about 100 yards), swim and then walk back. That’s a daily routine. Sometimes, if I feel real energetic, I’ll walk to the Marriott resort hotel next door and back (about 300 yards)”.

What about when you go out?
AP. “When I leave the condo I take a cane. The sidewalks here in Mexico can be very hazardous. Many streets are cobblestoned and too many stairs have no hand rails. The cane helps me keep my balance and prevents my falling, one of the most feared things that can happen to you in your advanced years. Among older adults, falls are the most common cause of death. Also the leading cause of brain injuries”.

What’s your advice on avoiding a fall?
AP. “Don’t get up too fast and lose your balance. Don’t climb any ladders. I had two elderly friends who fell off ladders. One broke his hip, the other, his leg. All ladders should be labeled ‘Dangerous to your health’. Some more hints; toss your scatter rugs into the attic. Be careful getting out of a car or walking on a wet sidewalk. Wear comfortable shoes. Don’t be ashamed to use a cane or walker when out. If you’re unsteady at the airport, have a redcap take you around in a wheel chair. Think you’re too smart to fall? Research shows that one out of three people have serious falls in later life. A broken leg doesn’t heal as fast at 85 as it would at 45. You may feel like you’re 45 but your body says otherwise”.

How about sex at 100?
AP. “Same as in your 50's. Only difference is at 100 it’s all in your head, not your body”.

What about Viagra?
AP. “At 100? Forget it! But in earlier years, let your doctor tell you if it’s right for you. Doesn’t work for everyone but if you are one of the lucky ones, it can possibly change your life. Surveys say that the use of potency medicines has doubled since 1999. ‘Men’s use of these products that assist in erectile dysfunction have increased the pleasure of their partners to a surprising degree’, the survey concludes. Researchers at the Rodeo Drive Woman’s Health Center in Beverly Hills made a startling discovery. ‘The idea older women are just happy to be done with sex is a fallacy. For every woman who says ‘My husband wants sex and I’m not interested’ there’s a woman who says, ‘I want sex but my husband isn’t interested’. But just taking Viagra is not enough. You first have to have the desire for sex. That has to come from you. Susan Jacoby in an article in the August 2005 issue of the AARP magazine, reports one woman’s comments on the importance of love as you get older. ‘One of the reasons I cherished the romantic moments before my husband found Viagra, was the way he held me and touched me in ways that satisfied me. It wasn’t all about him. It was about us and now I can give it back’.”

As you’ve said, we’d all like to reach 100. What do we have to do to reach this goal? You’ve already mentioned “No smoking” and “moderate drinking.” What else?
Austin Petersen. “One of the most important is ‘Watch your diet.’ The US Surgeon General reports that 75% of heart diseases are due to poor diets.”

What’s a good healthy diet?
AP. “The US Department of Health and the UK Department of Health, and others, recommend eating five to seven different fruits and vegetables a day will help reduce the risk of cancer of the breast, cervix, larynx, bladder, pancreas, prostate and the stomach. The second most important rule is to keep your weight down. Acquiring a roll of fat around your middle? Get rid of that flab right now. An AARP survey revealed that 97% of US adults don’t follow the four essential rules for healthy living; eating right, keeping a healthy weight, exercise and not smoking. Those are frightening figures. Comforting thought: It’s never too late to start eating right.”

Do you ever get overweight?
AP. “If I over indulged in food, I could easily get that roll of blubber that drapes over the belt.”

How do you keep your weight down?
AP. “The minute I put on even ten pounds, I go on my unorthodox ‘half-off’ diet. Cut all food intakes in half. At breakfast, one egg instead of two. One piece of whole wheat toast instead of two. No butter. No bacon. No ham. Or, half a bowl of whole grain cereal, skim milk. Half a glass of orange juice. One cup of coffee. No cream or sugar. Lunch: One half portion vegetable salad (Tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers). Half glass skim milk. Snack: Celery sticks. Half a glass grapefruit juice. Dinner: One half of whatever I was going to have. If this half-off diet doesn’t work fast enough, I cut out one meal.”

That’s pretty drastic. What do the diet experts say about your off beat diet?
AP. “They’d probably have a heart attack. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else, but it works for me as long as its only ten pounds. Another important thing in keeping weight down is to eat lightly. No seconds, no matter how tempting.”

Many experts recommend eating five small meals a day instead of three big ones.
AP. “I’ve never tried that one but it does make sense. You never overload your stomach.”

What other recommendations do you have for longevity?
AP. “Exercise is very important. My favorites are swimming and walking. Health advisors say you should walk at least 30 minutes a day, but start slowly. Walk two to three minutes a day up to the 30 minute mark. Stand straight, eyes looking 20 feet ahead. Chin up, hands loose, never clenched. Walking every day of the week, they say, will result in a 20% reduction in getting breast cancer and 50% less chance of getting diabetes and 30-40% less risk of heart disease. One sensational, but questionable, finding, I read about, says that walking two miles a day can cut the risk of death almost in half! It also concluded that 20 minutes of walking a day is as good as a high intensity exercise program. Note: If true, very interesting.”

No jogging?
AP. “Never have jogged. I remember reading about a jogging enthusiast who published a book on the joys of the sport. He dropped dead of a heart attack a few months later. However, thousands of people jog daily and do very well with it. My son, Harry, who is a pari-med with the Los Angeles Fire Department, is a jogger. It’s just not for me”.

Some experts say you should exercise strenuously to keep healthy. “No pain, no gain,” they claim.
AP. “The Met Life Consumer Education Center says that is not necessarily true. Start slowly and if you are a man over 40 or a woman over 50 with high risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or obesity. Check with your doctor before starting.”

Any other thoughts on walking?
AP. “In June, 2005, the Oregon Research Institute released a report to the AP of special interest to us residents of Puerto Vallarta. It stated that walking on cobblestone streets is very healthy. The American Geriatrics Society goes a step further. Walking on smooth, rounded cobblestones can significantly lower your blood pressure and improve your balance, they say. Some people here in Puerto Vallarta who stumble over those kind of streets daily will be happy to hear that. In China, research has proved that walking on an uneven surface or stone (like cobblestones) will stimulate the acupoints in the soles of your feet, similar to acupuncture. Will improve your balance, they add. AP note: I wouldn’t recommend you going to your local mayor and advising him to tear up your city streets and repave them with cobblestones, however.”

How about your own walking?
AP. “In the past six months my walking has slowed down because of my ailing knee but I still swim daily. To me, it is the best exercise ever.”

You recommend swimming over walking?
AP. “They’re both good but you can swim even if you can’t walk ten steps. So, get in that pool even if you have to reach it by cane, walker, wheel chair, crawling on your hands and knees or being carried there in the arms of a beautiful female life guard.”

Is it true that your memory starts fading as you reach those senior years?
AP: Absolutely not! My memory today is as good as it was when I was a youth.

Really?
AP: Yes. I can remember clearly my first day at school in Palo Alto. The teacher’s name was Miss Judy. Lived on Cowper Street. She was a flat chested blonde.

Amazing.
AP: I also remember my first date with a girl. Her name was Dorothy. Lived on University Avenue. She was red-headed and full chested. Really full chested.

Interesting. Now I —…
AP: I also remember my first job in radio. It was at KFRC on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. The year, 1933. My boss was Bill Wright, who later became a character actor in the movies. Our orchestra leader was a young man named Meredith Willson. On the staff was a girl named Bea Benadaret who later starred in her own TV show, “Petticoat Junction” and Ralph Edwards who later created and hosted “This is Your Life” and “Truth or Consequences.”

What a memory. Now what I -----…
AP: I wrote four comedy sketches, produced a two hour variety show five times a week, did sound effects and edited the 10:00pm news all for $42.50 a week!

All that for $42.50?
AP: It was in the middle of the Depression and I was glad to get it.

I guess so. Now I want to------…
AP: I also remember going to Hollywood in 1936 to write for Fred Astaire’s radio program. I was teamed with another young writer from San Francisco named Jess Oppenheimer who, after WW2, produced and was head writer of the “I Love Lucy” TV show for its first six or seven years. On the Astaire show we received $100 a week with $25 dollar raises every thirteen weeks. I immediately blew it by buying a brand new blue Packard convertible with red wire wheels. It cost $1,500.

$1,500? I bought a BMW convertible a couple of months ago. It cost me $40,000!
AP: Things were a little cheaper in those days. You could buy a home on the beach at Malibu for $65,000. About the same for a nice home in Beverly Hills.

How was Fred Astaire to work with?
AP: We’d take the script to his home each week. He’d give us each a scotch and water and then take the script into the next room and read it with his wife. Most of the time, no problem. But one day, Jess and I decided we’d like to watch Fred and Ginger Rogers rehearse their big dance number for “Swing Time” so we took the script over to RKO for Fred to read. It was a big mistake.

What do you mean?
AP: Ginger was four hours late for rehearsal and Fred was furious. He threw out our entire script. Jess and I had to sit up all night writing a new one.

That’s rough. Now I----…
AP: I also remember 1942 when I was commissioned a captain in the army and helped Col. Tom Lewis and others start up the Armed Forces Radio Service. AFRS’s goal was to improve troop morale in the field by giving the men overseas a “touch of home” with variety and informational shows produced for them alone. We also de-commercialized most of the popular network shows and sent them overseas by short wave and on huge discs to be played at our radio stations located around the world.

You certainly have a remarkable memory. Now I ----…
AP: I also remember, back in late December of 1944, when I made a four month’s tour of our AFRS radio stations in the Pacific. (Hawaii, Kwajelien, Eniwetok, Guam, Saipan, Leyte, Lingiyan Gulf, Manila, Biak, the Admiralities, Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Canton island). I remember, all too clearly, when I landed by mistake on a dirt road running through a park in the heart of Manila while there were still 15,000 Japanese troops trapped behind the wall, a half mile away.

I guess you wouldn’t forget that. Now I ----…
AP: I also recall going with the Ted Bates agency after the war as partner in charge of their Hollywood office. There were two comics appearing in a night club downtown and I recommended to Colgate that we sign them up as stars of a radio show. Total cost? $5,000. The client came out from New York, laughed himself silly at the pair’s antics at the club but said, “Not for us. They are strictly night club. Never make it in radio or television.”

What a memory but what I—…
AP: A few years later this same client was paying NBC $75,000 a week for this same pair as stars of the Colgate Comedy Hour. Their names? Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

Very frustrating. Now as I was saying...
AP: We sponsored a CBS show starring Eve Arden and Jeff Chandler called “Our Miss Brooks.” We had the right to put in our own show as a summer replacement, so I took a young disc jockey off his KNX morning show, signed him to a five year contract starting at $350 a week and put him on as the summer replacement. We thought he was doing great. The client didn’t agree. Cancelled him after the thirteen weeks. “Not going anyplace,” predicted the client. The CBS network picked up the young man and in two months he was starring in his own hour program, “The Steve Allen Show.”

What a blow! Now, I...
AP: That’s only half of it. We had another client, American Home, who had a complaint. “Why are we paying the networks these outrageous prices for talent? Why don’t we develop our own?” So I went to work. There was a young man from Nebraska who had a very low budget show on KNXTV in Los Angeles. I thought he had a great potential and I signed him to a five year contract, like Steve Allen, starting at $350 a week and going to $750 in the fifth year. The client okayed a thirteen week trial run on CBS. We thought the kid was terrific, but the client didn’t. Canceled after thirteen weeks. “Nice kid,” he said, “But strictly local. Not going anyplace.” The kid’s name? Johnny Carson.

And at 100, you remember all those events so clearly. Truly remarkable.
AP: I told you we don’t lose our memory when we reach old age.

I’m convinced. I’m convinced.
AP: I’m glad. Too many people believe your memory starts dimming as you get older. Not to change the subject, but I saw a great movie on television last night. .

What was the name of it?
AP: What?

The name of the great movie you saw on television last night.
AP: Oh! The name…It was…I don’t remember. But it had a great cast.

Who was in it?
AP: What?

The players. The actors… What were their names?
AP: Their names? Well, there was...what’s her name? And co-starring with her was.....I can’t remember.

What was the movie about?
AP: About?

The movie you saw on TV Last night. What was it about? The story…
AP: Oh, the story. It was a western? No, a love story… Or was it a murder mystery?

Which?
AP: I don’t remember.

But your memory doesn’t get shabby as you get older, right?
AP: Well, maybe a little. You can’t win them all.