By Thalia Cunningham
Nowadays, you can’t pick up a newspaper, magazine, scroll through your newsfeed, or wander through a bookstore without being bombarded with a plethora of advice on longevity: The Longevity Diet; The Longevity Formula; Longevity Secrets; Longevity for Dummies (I made that one up).
Anyone who’s plucked that first grey hair or climbed a staircase to the musical accompaniment of arthritic knees cares about living long – and living well. While there’s an abundance of material, many knowledgeable experts haven’t yet reached that age at which they actually can self-identify with longevity.
I decided to speak with Dr. Sheldon Lichtblau, an orthopedic surgeon uniquely qualified for membership in any Longevity Club (yes, they exist).
Dr. Sheldon Lichtblau is 99 years old – until February 27, 2026, when he turns 100.
His family was relatively uneducated. “I grew up with poor people, but we all made it.”
Following college at Rutgers and a master’s degree at the University of Wisconsin, Sheldon entered medical school at the University of Chicago Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine. Following a residency at the Hospital for Special Surgery, he practiced at Mount Sinai Medical Center, ultimately becoming Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Mount Sinai, Emeritus Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at Beth Israel North Hospital, and Chief of Orthopedics at the Hebrew Home for the Aged.
“I like using my hands,” Sheldon explained. “Early on, I dealt with a lot of pediatric foot problems. I was Chief of Orthopedics at an 800-bed nursing home, so became an expert in hip fractures” In addition to discovering many of his articles about hip fractures, a Google search also revealed an article about a fatal car crash on Long Island. Sheldon was driving by, stopped to give aid, suffering upper extremity burns.
Although Sheldon was the professor, the teacher, he acknowledged, “Sometimes, I learned more than I taught. They might have known more about modern orthopedics, but I knew more about people. The real villain is the computer.”
Even before he retired at age 98, Sheldon began writing plays.
How did that come about? “Following my military service, I took an English lit course. At the end of the course, I told the professor I hoped for a B. He gave me an A. Taking English lit courses broadened me as a person.”
Sheldon’s love of literature continues to this day. “I alternate fiction with nonfiction. I’ve read all of Shakespeare’s plays – he wrote a few clinkers. I loved The Iliad, The Odyssey, the Bible, War and Peace, Anna Karenina. One of my college English professors wrote a book on the 100 greatest pieces of literature. I tried to go down the list.”
The connection of reading to practicing medicine? “Reading expanded me as a person. I was better able to understand people.
He then admitted, “I also did these things to make myself attractive to the right kind of woman.”
Dr. Lichtblau met his wife, Lucile, through a former roommate who’d married Lucile’s cousin. “They fixed me up. She seemed interesting enough for a second date, and after the second date, I was hooked.” They’ve been married 68 years. “Don’t get me wrong. As far as I’m concerned, it’s still a trial marriage, but now, I’m the one who’s on trial.”
Lucile went to Yale Drama School. “But after college, there were only one or two women playwrights in the United States. It was very rare.” So, Lucile worked for NBC assessing plays for adaptation to television. At the age of 40, she returned to school for a PhD in educational psychology, began writing short stories, and then turned to playwriting.
Lucile created Plays In Progress, otherwise known as PIP, a community of writers, directors, and actors who meet monthly on Zoom. Actors read playwrights’ scenes, with intelligent and engaging feedback provided by all.
After sitting in on Lucile’s PIP sessions, Sheldon decided that he could also write plays. “I wrote one and was hooked,” he stated. To date, he has written a prolific 27 short plays and one full-length work.
“I rarely use more than 2 actors,” Sheldon told me. “When a thought occurs to me, I piece it together and write it as a play.” He was described in a program thus: “His dramatic work writes of love, life, and relationships in a voice that comes to him from his (then) 98 years of living and loving.” I remember one of his plays that began, “God and the Devil were sitting on a swing overlooking the universe….”
In this era of cleansing, juicing, mindfulness, meditation, sleeping, and other popular effluvia of longevity, I asked Sheldon to what he attributes his almost-century of health, creativity, and productivity.
“Quality of life and a limited number of stressors are important factors. I was lucky with regards to genetics and environment. I gave up red meat and eliminated heavy fats. Looking back on it now, my kids ate a lot of chicken.
“I began jogging when I was 40 years old. I walked two miles every morning. I played basketball, touch football on the beach, a lot of swimming. Now, I walk ¼ mile before breakfast. So much of what you do is what you don’t do – like drinking alcohol and smoking
“Community is very important. I have 4 sons (one orthopedic surgeon, two attorneys, and a mathematician), 3 daughters-in-law, 12 grandchildren. To be successful, you must be a social animal. Even when I was in clinical practice, I cut out time for myself.”
Sheldon’s advice to Americans: “Have pride in your background. Find a companion to help you live your life. Get out and socialize – it’s the underpinning of civilization.”
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