Healthy Aging: A Lifel... Andrew Weil M.D. Best Price: $1.09 Buy New $7.65 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details)

Having spent 113 years and 14 days on this earth, Henry Allingham is used to breaking records.

He is one of three British men still alive who actively served in the First World War, is the last surviving founder of the Royal Air Force, has long held the record for being the oldest man in Europe and earlier this year he became Britain’s most ancient man ever after overtaking John Evans, a Welsh former coal miner who died in 1990 aged 112 years and 295 days.

But when Mr Allingham woke up yesterday morning at St Dunstan’s care home for blind ex-service personnel, in Ovingdean, near Brighton, the supercentenarian was informed that he had suddenly achieved the highest age-related accolade for men.

Tomoji Tanabe, a Japanese retired civil engineer, had died peacefully in his sleep overnight. He was 113 years’ and 274 days’ old and had more than 50 great-grandchildren. Having foregone alcohol and cigarettes all his life, Tanabe had become the world’s oldest man in January 2007.

That mantle has now passed to Mr Allingham – the first time a British person has ever held such a title.

Dr. Ruth’s Sex A... Westheimer, Ruth K Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $11.05 (as of 06:10 UTC - Details)

A St Dunstan’s spokesman said that the oldest man on Earth greeted the news by simply returning to bed after breakfast for a celebratory nap.

For someone who has seen three different centuries, six monarchs, two world wars (and 18 world cups), becoming the oldest living man is, perhaps, something of a non-event.

Mr Allingham is quieter these days, but no codger at heart. In contrast to Mr Tanabe’s asceticism, he attributes his longevity to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women".

The Air Mechanic First Class is best known publicly for his war record, because of the many public engagements he has attended – up to 70 some years – including regular meetings with the Queen, politicians and soldiers returning from theatres of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yet he dislikes talking about conflict, saying only: "War’s stupid. Nobody wins."

He added in an interview recently: "Like so many, I have tried to forget my time in the war. In the last few years I have met other veterans, and we never spoke one word of the war, not one."

One of the many remarkable things about him – particularly given the mores of his time – has been his willingness to talk about mental health. "I’ve had two major breakdowns," he recalled, "one during the war and one after. But both when I was trying to do the work of three men.

"The trick is to look after yourself and always know your limitations."

Read the rest of the article

June 23, 2009