Returning to the Land of the Very Old

Sam Toperoff died this year, and that makes me really sad.

I never met Sam, but as all good writers do with their readers, he created a connection. I felt I knew him as a friend after reading his essay In The Land of the Very Old. There are no geographical coordinates for this strange place. It’s a state of mind Sam conjured up about aging. In this sweet piece of writing, he describes his journey from living in the “old country” to his new home in the “land of the very old.”

Last March, I posted a podcast episode recommending Sam’s essay to Camp Codger listeners. While preparing the podcast, I reached out to Sam, asking his permission to use a photo he took at his home in the French Alps, where he lived with his wife, daughter, and grandson. Sam never replied, but I assumed he would be okay with it since the episode was about Sam and his essay.

A few weeks ago, I became curious about what Sam was up to and discovered the sad news…Sam was no longer with us. It matters to me because I’m approaching “the land of the very old,” and he was a guide. I’m not at the border yet, but I can see it in the distance. Thanks to Sam’s depiction, the “land of the very old” seems like a good place. Not perfect, of course, but, as he says using a bittersweet chocolate simile for the “land of the very old,“ “the bitter is really not so terribly bitter, the sweet, when it comes, is surely a good deal sweeter than it has ever been.”

With his first essay about his new life in the “land of the very old,” Sam made a connection with thousands of readers. The response by his new friends, hundreds of who responded with emails, caused him to write a follow-up essay. In the Land of the Very Old, Part 2, which was published after his death, Sam continues his story about residing in this strange new place. And he must have been planning on keeping the conversation open since he even suggested he was getting a visa to the “land of the very, very old” as he was approaching his 91st birthday.

I was moved by Sam Toperoff’s passing because he was an inspiration. Not headline-news inspiration about a random old person doing some impossible feat for an 80-year-old. No, Sam inspired me because he continued to keep doing what he loved and did so well. At 90, he was still creating and writing, even as he was aware of the creeping limitations that make everything just a bit harder as we grow older. I continue to do this podcast at 76 because Sam is showing me the way.

Thanks, Sam. We never met, but I’ll miss you. I was looking forward to your take on your life in the Land of the Very, Very Old. I know it would have been a good read and a pretty good place to be.

Thanks for listening. I encourage you to read Sam’s essays. They’re long but worth the time. The links are below.

In the Land of the Very Old In the Land of the Very Old, Part 2

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