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National Centenarian Awareness
Project – Inspiring Positive Aging. Our nonprofit organization
celebrates active centenarians as role models for the
future of aging. On our blog, we
discuss centenarians and what it’s like to
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100 Years and Counting
PHOENIX Magazine
By Jessica Testa |
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On the cusp of Arizona's Centennial [Feb 14, 2012], a Phoenix woman
is working to end age discrimination by celebrating Arizonans over
age 100.
(excerpt)
… Lynn Peters Adler, director of the National Centenarian
Awareness Project, moved to Arizona in 1984 from New York, where she
studied elder law at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School
of Law. Advocating for the elderly was an interest that sprung up in
Adler's teenage years, when she watched her 60-something grandmother
struggle with age-related feelings of shame and marginalization.
"It seemed to me that older people became shunned by society,
and I thought that was wrong," Adler says. "We have so much to learn
- not just from centenarians, but from our elders. I always thought
it was a shame we don't take advantage of their presence in our
lives." |
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In Arizona, Adler saw an opportunity. "I caught the pioneer spirit,"
she says. "I thought I could really make a difference in this
state."
In 1985, Adler secured a post on Phoenix Mayor Terry Goddard's
Aging Services Commission, where she became chairwoman and remained
for three administrations. Under Goddard, she created the Phoenix
Centenarian Program, and then the Arizona Centenarian Program,
organizing the first of many statewide centenarian events.
In 1987, Adler was appointed to the Governor's Advisory Council
on Aging, representing the state in Washington, D.C., on National
Centenarian Day and working with the National Institute on Aging to
develop centenarian programs in each state.
In 1988, Adler conducted a survey of Arizona's 271 centenarians.
She recognized five traits that most centenarians seemed to share:
love of life (which included sense of humor and desire to
socialize), personal courage, a positive but realistic attitude, a
strong religious or spiritual belief, and the ability to "accept the
losses and changes that come with aging and not let it stop them,"
Adler says. She called these traits the "Centenarian Spirit."
"They don't sit around and worry about dying. They sit around
worrying about living," Adler says. "Most centenarians have lost
their spouses. Most centenarians have lost their friends. But
they're not quitters. They go on. To hear someone who's 103 say
they're enjoying every day of their life – there's nothing better
than that."
In 1989, based on the success of the Arizona programs and
inspired by the survey results, Adler launched the National
Centenarian Awareness Project, an organization based in Phoenix that
advocates for the recognition of elders as essential members of
society, nationwide. Adler, now in her 60s, has since written a
book. Centenarians: The Bonus Years; co-produced a PBS
documentary, Centenarians Tell It Like It Is; and introduced
centenarians to Barbara Walters for an ABC special.
"All my best friends are 100 and over. We go out for lunch and
we do things that people would do with any friend at any age," Adler
says. "Although they go to the gym more than I do." ...
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National
Centenarian Awareness Project (NCAP)
a nonprofit
organization, was founded by Lynn
Peters Adler, J.D., who has devoted her career to honoring, studying,
and advocating for increased recognition and inclusion of centenarians
and all elders as a natural part of the fabric of our society. Lynn has
a wealth of information about this increasing segment of our population
and centenarians in particular. Because of her rapport with this special
group, she has a unique understanding of their needs, thoughts, behavior
and philosophies of life. Lynn’s work is predicated on the belief that
ageism in America is both wrong and unnecessary. |
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Lynn Peters Adler (center) with centenarians (l-r) "Rosie"
Ross, Lillian Cox, Elsa Hoffmann and Karl Hartzel.
Dorothy
Young, inset. Click to read
more about the "Fab Five" and
the Barbara Walters Special.
Click
here to read bios of
each of the "Fab Five." |
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Lynn’s voice on centenarians, longevity and positive aging, with an
emphasis on quality of life issues, has been heard throughout the
United States. She continues her long-standing involvement in
community service with her appointment to a new term on the Arizona
Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging (www.azgovernor.gov/gaca) and the Arizona Attorney
General’s Senior Advisory Council. For ten years she served as
chairperson of the Phoenix Mayor’s Aging Services Commission.
She founded the Arizona Centenarian Program during her first term on
the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging in the mid 1980s.
(click for more: About Lynn
Peters Adler)
Lynn, through her company Sterling
Resources Inc., is a consultant to
businesses
on programs relating to aging, longevity, centenarians and others of
advanced age.
She also serves as
a catalyst to bring active centenarians to the public’s attention, often
through print and broadcast media. |
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National
Centenarian Awareness Project
Mission:
“It is
a great distinction to live to 100 years or more.” –
Lynn Peters Adler, 1985
ADVOCACY:
For the continued involvement of our
elders as integral members of society.
CELEBRATION/RECOGNITION:
NCAP seeks to contact and honor all those 100 years old
and older as our living links to history and works with
community entities to promote recognition of our eldest
citizens.
Click
to learn about NCAP Centenarian Recognition Program.
INSPIRATION:
Active centenarians are role models
for the future of aging
For more information about National Centenarian
Awareness Project, click on About
NCAP and read our blog: www.liveto100and beyond.com |
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Direct email
to:
adler@NCAP100s.org
800-243-1889 or 602-363-8980 -
cellphone |
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Click for Barbara Walters'
article on the ABC website
The ABC Barbara Walters Special on
aging and longevity "Live to be 150" aired the first of April,
2008.
I was asked two years ago to participate in this
project and it was both a wonderful and exhilarating experience.
It was an honor and a privilege to work
with Ms. Walters and her talented and caring team of professionals.
We’ve put together a “behind the scene”
feature with bios of |

The Barbara Walters Special features five of our
centenarians:
Pictured (l-r): Dorothy Young, "Rosie" Ross, Lillian Cox,
Barbara Walters, Dr. Karl Hartzell and Elsa Hoffmann.
Click to read an article on the ABC website about the
Special by producers Jennifer Joseph and Rob Wallace |
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each of the five centenarians who traveled to New
York City last September for this history-making, first-ever event.
When a “TV legend” is interested in longevity, it makes all the work I
have devoted my career to over the past 23 years worthwhile – AGING IS IN!!
Ms. Walters is even more attractive in person; she
was so gracious with the centenarians and her staff so very considerate
and respectful. I have participated in a lot of media productions over
the years and often with centenarians. Some of the experiences have unfortunately been somewhere
between upsetting and disappointing. But
with Ms. Walters’ team, it was “top notch,” as one of my 100-year-old
friends put it, and another summed it up as a “magical experience.”
Behind the scenes ...
The making of the
Barbara Walters
Special! Click here. |
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Updated 1-2012 |
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© 1998-2012 National Centenarian Awareness Project & Lynn Peters
Adler, J.D.
No material, in whole or in part, may be reprinted
or reproduced in any form without the prior written permission
of Lynn Peters Adler and the National Centenarian Awareness Project.
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