A 100th birthday often warrants a photo and article in the hometown paper. Centenarians promise to be even hardier if they avoid those life-ending diseases. Many already are. LaFauci, a former traveling salesman, says people are as shocked by his independence as they are by his gift of gab. There are discoveries researchers haven't explained.
Centenarian women outnumber men, but are sicker and more frail.
Women who have a child after 40 are five times as likely to reach the century mark than other women. Centenarians are all races. Some farm, others surf the Internet. A comfortable, wealthy, pampered life doesn't necessarily guarantee long life. Children of slaves have lived to 100.