San Diego Jewish Film Festival preview: ‘Over 90 and Loving It’

Over 90 and Loving It,  directed by Susan Polis Schutz, 70 minutes

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO – I had the triple privilege of watching this documentary with my father-in-law Sam Zeiden, 92, and seeing among the 14 vignettes, two about San Diegans whom I have met, the late Medal of Honor recipient John William Finn and author/ painter Laura Simon, today 105.

Finn, alas, died recently, having passed his 100^th birthday.  He was active almost to the end, and I—along with numerous other San Diegans – had met him at various functions celebrating veterans, with one I remember in particular being a 2002 salute organized by Jewish War Veterans at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Balboa Park.

Finn had been on  duty during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and stayed at his machine gun post firing at attacking planes, ignoring the fact that he had been wounded on  several parts of his body.   Although by tradition, a Medal of Honor recipient merits a salute even from commanding officers, the nation’s highest accolade never went to Finn’s head.  He remained a modest man throughout his life.  In his interview, he is shown walking through a scrap metal yard, he being one who loved to collect “junk.”

Simon, whose book I’m Still Here, after publication in its original format was serialized on San Diego Jewish World, says in the documentary that she stopped aging at 65 and “no one is going to push me higher” and proceeds to demonstrate how she remains active, notwithstanding being hard of hearing and visually impaired.   This remarkable lady will appear on a panel at 8 p.m., Monday evening, Feb. 14, at the Clairemont Reading 14 Theatres, 4665 Clairemont Drive, as part of the San Diego Jewish Film Festival.

Susan Polis Schutz – mother of Democratic Congressman Jared Polis from Colorado—divided her documentary into segments lasting an average of 5 minutes on some fascinating nonagenarians and centenarians.

In addition to Simon and Finn, the inspiring group included a track-and-field competitor in the senior Olympics (we should all look so fit!); folksinger Pete Seeger (he performed at my summer camp when I was a boy!); a couple who were married when he was 93 and she was 91 (hallelujah!); a woman who is up early each day to bake the cinnamon rolls which she serves at her restaurant/ bakery; a Kansas woman who received her bachelor’s degree at age 95 and went on to earn her master’s degree; a man who plays the saxophone and jazz whistle in a performance band; a woman who organizes rummage giveaways for poor families;  a New York City cab driver; Addison City, Texas, city council member Fan Benno-Caris; and Doris Haddock, who walked across the United States, 10 miles per day, to call attention to the need for campaign reform.

There were some common prescriptions for attaining longevity expressed by the interviewees:  1) keep active physically and mentally; 2) be moderate in diet; and 3) don’t accept the limitations that others might impose upon you because of age.

My father-in –law is one of the most energetic men I know.  He’s thin as a rail and always on the go.  A former engineering liaison for Hughes Aircraft, he loves electronics and likes nothing better to visit Fry’s or other electronic outlet stores to see what’s new.  He just bought himself a red 2011 Buick, which he frequently drives between Oceanside and our home in San Diego.

His reaction to the documentary was that it would be interesting to show it someday in the clubhouse of the Ocean Hills Country Club, a large development of single family residences for people over the ages of 55.

More so than for the elderly, he said, the film should make instructive viewing for the children and grandchildren of the elderly, so that they will stop looking at senior citizens as people whose active lives and interests have somehow ceased.

In particular, Pop Zeiden would like all doctors to watch the movie – so they could understand that patients are not measurable only by the standard of their age; that their temperaments, life experiences, genetic inheritances, exercise and diet all are important health factors as well.  When he goes to a doctor whose first question is “how old are you?” Dad’s instinct is to head for the door.  “Are you going to treat me, or my age?” he instead counters.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World