100 Years Old
One of the problems with living to the landmark age of 100 is that not many others from your past are still around to join in the revelry. Except for the really famous, the media doesn't note such events. So today we younger old people make up for that neglect with a couple of references to people who have certainly made their contributions during much of the last century.
Last night we purged our telephone list for the first time in several years. There were a few names on the list we could not even remember, and many others we have not contacted in years. Of course, the only way to do that is to dial the number and see what happens. Although the name is alphabetically well down on our list, we decided to call Woodly Woodbury, who since we arrived in Florida, has been a popular local comedian who made forays into the national entertainment scene. We used to have lunch with Woody and publicist Jack Drury until Drury's death in 2021. We were happy to hear Woody's mischievous voice, and one of the first things he said was that he was 101 years old.
Woody Woodbury
Many people don't know Woody is still with us, and fewer recall what distinguished him beyond his world of laughter. During World War II, Woody became a Marine Corps pilot and one of his flying mates was baseball great Ted Williams. The pair did not get overseas, but both enjoyed the Marines so much that they stayed in the Reserves when their unit was called up during the Korean War. Years ago, when Williams was in the prime of his legendary career, they flew the Grumman Panther jet in combat, and Woody described their most memorable mission. Ted Williams’ plane was hit. He refused to bail out and instead chose to nurse his smoking craft back to base. Woody landed first and pulled his plane to the side of the runway as Williams, with no hydraulics to lower his wheels pancaked his jet, took a fiery side almost forever and as it stopped and tilted on one wing "that big son of a bitch was out of this plane in seconds.” Williams resumed his baseball, and when he retired, lived in the Florida Keys where he and Woodbury remained friends until Williams' death in 2002
Ted Williams
Another old friend who exceeded 100 is broadcast giant Joe Amaturo, now 102. Joe, a leading philanthropist often to Catholic causes, was one of the first people we wrote about in 1971. He was new in town, and we heard he gave us credit for quick acceptance. Joe is retired, oddly enough, but his son Lawrence runs a chain of radio stations in California.
Joe Amaturo c. 1971
