Sexual intercourse may have begun, per Larkin, in 1963, but one London centenarian is defying that clammy logic: Eric Woodward, who dispenses advice on love, ladies, and life to a new generation in the pages of FHM magazine, has just celebrated his 101st birthday.
The agony uncle (or great grandfather, more like it) was hired by FHM last year to dole out worldly-wise advice to the magazine's readership of smart, sophisticated young gentlemen (er, are you sure about this? Ed.). A resident now in Redbourn retirement home, through his column Woodward has nonetheless found himself a niche in 21st century Britain, much like geriatric1927 on Youtube, who found his banal reminiscing of days yore an unlikely viral hit.
Staff at Redbourn are set to reward Woodward with a birthday cake, balloons and games. Reports that FHM are then set to whisk him away in a BMW driven by a buxom beauty for a lost weekend in Prague with Shaun Ryder and this month's High Street Honey are yet to be officially confirmed.
Woodward attributes his long life to a healthy diet, giving up smoking at 60, and eschewing alcohol. This latter might not be what British men want to hear: after all, a recent report suggested that young people get deliberately sloshed to improve their sex lives. This Londonista at least will be forgoing the chance of hitting a century and shuffling drunkenly in the general direction of the next likely partner - it's the English way, after all.
Image courtesy of robokow's Flickrstream under the Creative Commons Attribution license
