Opinion: 98-year-old author’s curiosity, contributions keep me going
I don’t know about other elders, but when some of us reach what I call the “sunset“ of our lives, thoughts of our demise start to take root in our minds. Such life-is-over-for-you messages usually come in a gruff-sounding voice. The keynote of the message is that it’s time for us to throw in the towel.
I admit, at 87, that I’ve been getting these messages from time to time. It isn’t a welcoming situation, and I usually just shake it off. I know that it isn’t the Lord speaking to me — (I can always recognize the voice of the Lord because it is always a still, sweet sound). However, if I am not careful, I will give ear to the negative voice. It makes me anxious because there are many things I still want to accomplish while I’m on top of the ground. Then, the still sweet voice calms me. And I say “No“ to throwing in the towel.
One day recently, that’s the way it was for me. Then, out of the blue, I get an email from a man named Charles Block. He is 98 and is not thinking about end of life. It was such a blessing to hear from someone like Block, who believes there is still a lot for him to contribute to the world, even at his age.
So, I gave him a call. I wanted to know what makes him want to keep going. Aside from having found love again after the death of his first wife, he said it is his curiosity that keeps him moving.
“I was married for over 63 years to my dear wife Lorraine. We had two children together. She died 10 years ago,“ Block said. “I remarried to a lovely lady named Myriam. She makes my life very happy.“
Block, who said he is a lifelong student of the progress of ideas, is the author of three books. “Writing keeps me active. I’m curious, and I like doing research. I like to look at why things happen the way they happen,“ he said. “When you are doing research, certain things grab you.“
Something “grabbed“ him when he was doing research about the 17th Century. The result: his third book, “Turning Point,, which takes the position that the 1600s marked humanity’s “... great transformation — when reason, science, religious tolerance and representative government began to replace superstition, dogma and autocracy,“ he said. “The 17th Century was really the beginning of the middle class and modern thinking; the turning point from the middle-ages to what we call modern times,“ he said. “In the book I focus on the Netherlands and England as the first modern societies to embody these ideals, and on key philosophers such as Baruch Spinoza and John Locke.“
Born in 1927, Block is a child of the Depression and a World War II veteran. He was able to go to college on the GI Bill, “... a wonderful feature of the war ... ” and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. In 1951, he earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Harvard. “The GI Bill ran out before I could go for my doctorate,“ he said.
After graduating from Harvard, Block became a member of an MIT research team and went to work on a prototype digital computer project called Whirlwind I. “That device prefigured our age of automation,“ he said. Later, as computers were being introduced, he moved from Boston to New York and became a consultant for several companies, ending up at Chase Manhattan Bank. He retired in 1990.
“When I retired, I had no tennis or golf skills, and besides, I really didn’t enjoy them. But I did enjoy reading and writing,“ he said. “Turning Point“ follows two earlier books — “Morality: Whose Idea Was It Anyhow?“ and “Humanism: The What, Who, Why, When and Where“. Each book explores how ideas have shaped civilization’s progress — politically and socially, he said.
Block, who lives in Aventura with his wife, said writing keeps him active. “I’m in pretty good shape for my age... everything above my neck works perfectly,“ he said with a chuckle. “I think I was mostly lucky. I like to read, and I like to know why things happen; what does it go back to. Researching my books has been educational for me. Even if they don’t sell very well, it was still a joy to write them.“
Thank you, Mr. Charles Block. Your story drowns out the negative voice that tells me it’s time to hang it up and reinforces the still, sweet voice that tells me to keep on keeping on.
Charles Block’s books can be purchased on Amazon.
SUNDAY SALON
The Holocaust Institute at the University of Miami and the Holocaust Teacher Institute invites you to The Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Foundation Holocaust/Jewish Themed Sunday Salon Series at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.
The event will be a virtual evening with renowned author and historian Dr. Alexandra Richie in conversation with Dr. Miriam Klein Kassenoff, director of the Holocaust Institute of the University of Miami, School of Education and Human Development. Richie was the featured guest historian-in-residence on the recent Jerusalem of the Rhine cruise honoring the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Dachau. She was accompanied on the cruise by Kassenoff, who as a child survived Dachau.
To register for the event, and for more information, email Alissa Pardo Stein at Institute.UM@gmail.com