Through conversations with his 109-year-old neighbor, author David Von Drehle unlocks the secret to living a long and happy life.
Key Details
- In his book, The Book Of Charlie: Wisdom From the Remarkable American Life Of a 109-Year-Old Man, Von Drehle learns his neighbor’s story and shares his life lessons with readers.
- Charlie White lived for over a century, and during that time, he saw much of the world change around him.
- Yet despite personal tragedies and a swiftly changing world, White learned how to survive difficulty and embraced the adventure of life.
- Von Drehle recognized that White’s story is one of learning how to embrace change and thrive because of it.
Why it’s important
Though White was born before the radio, he lived to see the invention of the smartphone—and that was just one of the many changes he saw throughout his life.
In his discussions with his neighbor, Von Drehle recognized that White had something important to teach the generations after him—how to be resilient, embrace change, and thrive.
Throughout White’s story, readers will discover that while many things in the world have changed dramatically, there are some things that will always stay the same. Through White’s journey from personal tragedy in his childhood to travels across the U.S. and beyond, Von Drehle conveys White’s timeless, lasting lessons.
After a personal tragedy upended White’s childhood, he learned survival strategies that emulate thousands of years of philosophy and wisdom. With these life lessons in hand, White followed his sense of adventure around the world. White traveled the Amazon as a gust of the Peruvian president, improvised open-heart surgery techniques, and survived amid Depression-era gangster wars—all the while leaning on those lessons he first learned as a boy.
As a columnist for The Washington Post, Von Drehle writes about politics and national affairs. During his career at Time, he wrote more than 60 cover stories. He has written multiple books, including best-seller Triangle: The Fire That Changed America.
The Book Of Charlie was published by Simon & Schuster on May 23, 2023.