Ky and I have a subscription to the Economist. I usually read the print edition, and always start with the last page first.
For those not familiar with the newspaper, the final page of every edition is an obituary. Often it is someone famous; a prime minister, an author, a Nobel Laureate. But frequently it’s someone unknown, or least unknown to me.
This week, the obituary was on Virginia Oliver, a Maine woman who first went lobster fishing at 8 years old, then became a lobsterman (that’s what they’re called!) at the young age of 43. The only female lobsterman skipper for many decades, she continued running her operation and manning their ship, Virginia, until she turned 103. She passed at 105, after spending more than 60 years working the lobster trade.
Virginia certainly had a long, full, and interesting life. Living to over 100 is a marvel, and while genetics help, I have no doubt that continuing her work made an enormous difference. The fact that her four children (74, 76, 78 and 81) would come round for dinner every Saturday night wouldn’t have hurt either.
I try to read the paper every week, dipping in and out, but I always start with the obituary.
Vale Virginia.