South Austin stalwart Micky Caldwell celebrates 105th birthday with relatives, friends
In his honor, relatives, friends and four Austin firefighters gathered on his driveway for a birthday party on March 29.
"Yes, he's healthy," confirmed one of his daughters, Sharon Howell. "Some trouble with his eyesight, but he hasn't lost his sense of humor."
In fact, as Caldwell greeted visitors on his driveway, he shook hands with the men, but he valiantly kissed the hands of the women.
A smiling cavalier into his 11th decade, Caldwell served as the subject of a major American-Statesman profile when he turned 101.
Back then, Caldwell gave a Statesman reporter and a photographer a tour of his youthful haunts, which included the former Grace Methodist Church on East Monroe Street, which his father, Thomas Fletcher Caldwell Sr., helped build in 1914; several shops on South Congress that the Caldwell family had occupied with various businesses; apartments above what is now Kendra Scott's Texas-themed Yellow Rose Collection that Caldwell built by hand from material salvaged from World War II-era Camp Swift; and a tiny house on Newtown Street that Caldwell enhanced with a basement, unusual for Austin.
More on Micky Caldwell: We take a unique South Austin history tour with 101-year-old Micky Caldwell
"Few people have lived so much South Austin history as Malcolm 'Micky' Caldwell, 101," began the Nov. 12, 2021 article. "The descendent of early Texas pioneers, Caldwell has spent almost his entire life within a few square miles south of the river."
The perennial charitable volunteer shared a pretty simple philosophy that has informed his long years and could be witnessed at his driveway birthday party.
"Nothing is worthwhile till it's shared," the centenarian said. "You can have a bank account, but it doesn't mean anything until you use it. Service is the rent you pay for the space you occupy in the community."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Relatives, friends celebrate Micky Caldwell's 105th birthday in Austin
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Boston Globe
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Joan Anderson, unsung heroine of hula hoop history, dies at 101
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Her daughter, Loralyn Willis, announced the death. The hubbub over the hoop started when her husband, Wayne, saw opportunity in the object and decided to pitch it to Wham-O, a toy company that soon became known for the Frisbee. As it happened, he was acquainted with one of Wham-O's founders, Arthur Melin, known as Spud, so he arranged a meeting. Advertisement The encounter, she recalled, occurred in a parking lot outside Wham-O's offices in San Gabriel, Calif. The Andersons opened up the trunk of their car and took out the hoop. 'There were no witnesses,' Ms. Anderson said in the documentary. 'Just Spud and my husband and myself.' 'We told him, 'We've called it the hula hoop,'' she continued. 'He said: 'Looks like it has some merit. If it makes money for us, it's going to make money for you.'' The deal was sealed with what Ms. Anderson characterized as a 'gentleman's handshake' and nothing more. Wham-O began experimenting with the hoop, developing a plastic version of it and trying it out on children at a Pasadena, Calif., elementary school. The company also started giving them away to generate buzz. By the time Wham-O was selling the hoop, lines were forming outside department stores. As the popularity of what Wham-O trademarked as the Hula Hoop grew, Ms. Anderson said, she and her husband heard less and less from Melin. 'We called Spud and asked him what was going on, and he kept putting us off,' she said. 'Then they just ignored us.' The hoop quickly became a national sensation. From Ms. Anderson's home in the suburbs of Monterey Park, Calif., she watched as newspapers landed on her porch with headlines like 'Hula-Hoop Sales Soar to $30 Million in 2 Months.' Over the years, stories about Wham-O's success sometimes spoke of a 'friend' visiting from Australia who first told the company about the hoop. 'I think that bugged me more than anything,' Ms. Anderson said. 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Yahoo
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After ‘Eddington:' 7 Offbeat Westerns to Watch Next
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Buzz Feed
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