 Hello and welcome to the Runlet and Baldachi Report. Over the past few months, we've had some pretty incredible people on our show. We had Senator George Mitchell, a majority leader, who brought peace to Ireland. We had Secretary of Defense William Cohen. We had B.B. Bewell, who had relationships with some of the most famous men in show business history, including Mick Jagger, Jack Nicholson, Steve Tyler, just to name a few. When I say relationships, I do mean relationships. And we also have, of course, our good friend Gianni Russo, the Hollywood godfather who starred in the movie The Godfather, and now owns the name The Hollywood Good Godfather. But today we have, I think, the most special guest we could ever have on this show. Why? Because this man is over one century. He's lived over one century. He's 101 years old, born in 1922. He's seen it. He's done it. He's been there. I don't know how many wars he's been through, how many depressions and recessions, and how many presidents. But tonight we have someone on our show that I think is just going to be over the charts. Rod, thank you so much for coming with us. Rod McConnell and your daughter, Kristen, with you. Good evening. Thank you. And of course, I'm not going to ask you your age about Rod. You are 101. You must have been 55 or 60 when you had her. Thank you. Thank you. What a pleasure to have you on. Rod, I'm going to start off with my first question. Yesterday when we chatted about the show, I said, what's the first thing you remember? You said, well, I remember in the first grade coming home from school but avoiding a house because some of the bad kids were there. And you know that's a similar memory that we all have. But what I want to ask you, Rod, is that what was your favorite subject in grade school? Oh, boy. Recess. Yeah, to get out of work, I guess. Okay. And Rod asked you this. So you were born in 22 and the stock market crash was 29 if I'm not mistaken, right? Correct. Do you remember the stock market crash? Did your life change when the country went into a depression? Not a bit. Really? How was that, Rod? Not a bit. Well, we didn't have much to begin with. Okay. The market itself was something I wasn't acquainted with. I didn't mean much to me nor my folks. That was something they wouldn't deal in. They wouldn't know about it. But the times were tough prior to that. But the early days, I don't remember that we changed our life any. Why did you grow up, Rod? Yeah. Where did you grow up? Where? In Des Moines, Iowa. Okay. So in the middle part of America, you lived on a farm? No. My grandparents were on a farm and I was, as a youngster, I spent my summers on that farm. It was about 70 miles from Des Moines and they'd call me there and I'd stay with Grandpa and Grandma as a farm and work. Rod, so born in 22, that means you graduated from high school in about 1940 or so. Am I correct? That's exactly right. And how many kids were in your class? Do you remember? When I graduated, there were 300 in our high school. Okay. That was one of the larger high schools in Des Moines. There were four high schools. And then you went to college where? I went to, I did go to Case Western Reserve but that was not immediately following high school. Okay. What happened in the interim between high school and going to college? I worked at various jobs. I worked in 1940. The year I got out, I went down to Missouri and worked at a building and army camp. One of the larger ones is still running right now. What were you doing there? I was driving a turnip, a dirt mover and working in the warehouse. Okay. This is prior to World War II? That was prior to the war, yes. Right, yes. And when you were born, World War I had just ended basically, but you were right around, as you graduated from high school, you're starting to watch World War II. What do you remember about that as you became a senior in high school? What do you remember about Hitler and all that stuff? Do you remember hearing about him? Oh yes, yes a lot. Yes, you bet. We followed that pretty closely. We had newspapers and the big thing was to go to Pathé News at the theater. Okay. And there would be a matinee on Saturday for ten cents, we would go. Right. And they'd have the news on and a cowboy show or two and a cereal. Well, Rod, you know I'm 77 and I remember going to those shows. The cereals with Flush Gordon with Tarzan and Bombard the Jungle Boy. And one of my friends was in a movie, the Nioca and the Tigermen with Clayton Moore, the lone ranger. And you were paying ten cents and Rob and I were probably paying 25. Yes. What was your favorite candy when you were growing up? Do you have a favorite kind of candy? I ate a lot of penny candy. Yes, me too. What was your favorites? And I don't know, I think it still is probably the orange slices. You had the orange slices and the spearmint leaves, right? And the spearmint leaves, too. And the chocolate hershey, little stars that they had. Rod, just to kind of go back a little bit, prior to World War II, first of all, did you serve in the war at the time? Were you two young? I went in one year after it began. It began in December of 1941. Correct. And then you went in for one year? I was in for three plus years. Right. And what was your rank? Yeah, what did you do? What branch? Well, I had various ranks. I was discharged as a PFC, private first class. But I had some various ranks, depending on where I was. Where were you doing during the war, Rod? Well, the large part of my time was spent in the United States to begin with. Okay. And a lot of it was spent between Missouri and New Jersey. I was in both places a number of times. You said in New Jersey, were you at Fort Dix? I was discharged from Fort Dix. And you said in Missouri, were you at Leonard Wood? Fort Leonard Wood? Well, Leonard Wood was where I went to work. Okay. And what the industry was, or basic training, and my first assignment was in another encampment in Missouri. It was a signal core encampment. Okay. And I stayed there for a while. And then I went to Fort Monmouth. And then I asked to get into the air core. Okay. And how did that work out? It worked out wonderful for me until I got through college. And then the bulge started. And we were to have gone to there, of course. And from various services, we had a lot of volunteers in my flight. And they went back to Colorado. And I never saw them again, of course. When you say the bulge, what are you referring to? You used the term. You mean the Battle of the Bulge? The Battle of the Bulge. Okay. In Europe. Okay. Well, Rod, when I came out of the U.S. Army, I came out at a higher rank than you are, sir. I came out of corporal. Yeah. And I'm very proud to have served. Rod, with you today is your daughter, Kristen. Yeah. But you were married 74 years? Yeah. Yes. And so you had four children, correct? And Kristen is your youngest? She's a young. Yes. And Kristen, you recently worked at my alma mater. And the alma mater of Bill Cohen and George Mitchell. So you couldn't be more in tune. You worked at Bowdoin, didn't you? I did, yes. And what did you do there? I was the director of the Bowdoin College Children's Center. And how many years did you serve in that capacity? About nine years. Nine years. Yeah. And as Rob said, then you knew Barry Mills. Yes, I did. Yeah. And did you go to Bowdoin Functions? Did you go to plays and stuff like that? Oh, yes. Oh, so you immersed yourself into it? Oh, there was a lot. They offered a lot to take advantage of. Good. How about the Main State Music Theater? Yes. One of the best. Yes. And I'll tell you, one of my best times was ice skating. Yes. In their new hockey arena. Yes. And we could skate for free over our lunch hour. We did a lot of that. And oftentimes I was the only one there. Oh, so you had the whole arena to yourself? I had a lot of imagination going on there. Oh, that's fantastic. By the way, I love to ice skate. I do ponds around here. Yeah. I don't skate as much anymore. Yeah. Ice skating is a lot of fun. So you're in the very famous arena because Bowdoin's hockey team has been one of my best friends. Not as good as Mainz. What's that? Not as good as Mainz. But that's okay. Well, yeah. As a Main graduate, I am. Rob, what's amazing is back when I was in high school, Main didn't have a hockey team. They had the basketball. Bill Cohen beat them. Okay. But Main didn't have a hockey team. Then all of a sudden they got hockey. Stephen King's going to the game. You got the guy that went to play for the Ducks or something. Oh, yeah. All career. Yeah. Main is a great team. But Rod, so you've lost three of your children, correct? That's correct. I'm so sorry. And that must have been hard to go through. I mean, most people, they outlive their children. Yeah. And one of the things that I know about you because we've chatted about it is that you have been a lifetime golfer. You were a good golfer back in the day. You told me you worked at a golf shop, didn't you? Where was this? Where? That was in Dubois, Iowa. Okay. When did you first take up the game of golf? Paul was in the service. I came home and the country club invited us out to the golf course to play around the golf and have lunch. I was home on leave. The only time I was back to Dubois, in fact, while I was in the service. I had carried. Me too. And earlier on, but I had never, I thought that was pretty much a waste of time. But that was good money. I think it was 75 cents. 75 cents? Yeah. They were paying that when I was a caddy 30 years later. Well, I carried Dubois and you got a dollar. That's right. Yeah. A bag on each shoulder. Yeah. That was at a different country club. In any case, then I really got excited about it after I got home and was home for just a short while before I was in playing golf. Did you ever take any lessons, Rod? Yeah. Did you ever take any lessons? You know, for a fact, I never took a lesson. And what's your handicap? Yeah, right. We need to know. Well, my handicap at best was around eight. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. That was in my good days. Yeah. A few rounds below, you know, in the 70s. Yeah. And by the way, you were playing with those old clubs. You know, the clubs that paid were... The mashies and the... Yeah. You know, the woods today are like 13 inches wide and stuff. You would have broken power with the clubs of today, Rod. Oh, sure. Well, the best set of clubs I ever had were... They were good clubs. There's a set of them, in fact, in the museum in the... where Iron Byron is in New Jersey. There's a set there. Oh, yeah. Yeah. They were woods and they were quite mashies, but I had some mashies. Yeah. That's a term we don't use anymore. Oh, mashies. That really tells you your age. Who was your favorite golfer? Yeah. Who did you... Who was your idol? Well, it just about has to be Nelson or Byron Nelson. How about Bobby Jones? Or Hogan. Hogan, of course. And Jones, it's very hard to say. Yeah. Just like picking an old boxer. Sure. Yeah. It depends. Did you ever see any of these guys? Oh, I've seen a lot of them. Tell us about that. Yeah. Well, it's pretty thrilling. We ended up being in California when they made sure we went to the AT&T. And we did that for years, Barbara and I. Yeah. And we wintered out there because I had spent some time. In any case, those were just beautiful courses. For me, they were so different. Still the Cyprus course out there. The Cyprus course, yeah. And that's a course that really, really impresses you. Yeah. But they're all just so beautiful. But I've seen tournaments everywhere from Vegas to every place but the east. Yeah. Every place but the east. I'm going to ask Dino to put up a picture of myself that I'm going to send to him because last night as I was preparing for this show, I came across a picture of myself in the newspaper, Bangor Daily News, which is where Rob is from, as a caddy in the first Paul Bunyan golf tournament. And I'm standing there with a club over my head like Paul Bunyan. I'm so proud of that. I caddied in that tournament, made $20, $5 a round. And I want to ask you something, Rod, about golf. I told you about a game that I came up with, Gallery Shot, which I've talked to Rob about. And what you said was that you're able to concentrate on the next shot. When you played golf, did you ever play for money? Did you ever compete for money? Even with your friends? We did. Every round we played golf. Yeah. And what would you play for? How much? Well, it was just like a quarter. Yeah, okay. Big bucks. Big bucks. Well, we had some private bets then too. Yeah. But that was, you know, five bucks was a big bet. Sure. Well, I'm proud to say that Rob and I were Cumberland County bar champions. That's right. With my dear friend and our dear friend, Ken Alshule. Ken Alshule. I think Seth Goodall was the other guy. Correct. He was our ringer. Yeah, ringer. So I just want to ask you about your occupation. You went into the phone business, correct? Yes. And I have information that you installed the first phone, or the phone on Harry Truman's train car. Did you do that? That is true. And what year would that have been? Oh, boy. All right. Well, he was in there around 40 or so. He was after, well, 45. After President, probably the first election after our Democrats, Mr. Roosevelt died. Right. Yeah. And so that was 45. So it would be 46 in that area. Right. 47. And did you see him? Probably 47. Did you actually see him? On the train? I did. You did? Tell me about it. I was just close to him. Really? I, well, the situation was that he was running for president, of course, and he was coming through Des Moines, and I would receive the call. I was working someplace and was told to get down to the Rock Island railroad station and set up a line for the president. And that's all I had to do, just get a line into the train. Now, of course, he was campaigning off the trail in the way of a Rock Island rocket off the balcony, off the back end of it. And I didn't know, I couldn't get any information. That's all I had to go on was I'd go there. Well, I asked everybody down there, of course. And no one seemed to know what track. And I just called the artist board and asked them to send me two installers, outside installers, with all the drop wire they could find. That's a drop wire. It's just a heavier wire that goes outside. And we proceeded to wire from the terminals under the tracks. We got permission to do that finally. And tried to get a line, at least one line in a track, and sometimes two, because the train, we didn't know where it was going to stop. We didn't know much of anything. And so they wired the number, telephone number out to us in the terminal from the office. And we proceeded to get that thing set up. And when the train came in, of course, the three of us were all set. We were set. We did get some other help in there, too, because we were... How long did you spend with Truman? How long did you actually spend with him? Oh, just enough. I went in, I took the phone in on the end of this wire. And they guided me in there. And I heard him say, where's that boy with that phone? And I said right here, I don't remember for sure what I said. I probably still don't know what to say. Here it is. Were you... I mean, what did it feel like to meet a president of the United States like that, Harry Truman, as a young man? You all met John of Kennedy, but go ahead. What was it like to meet Truman? It was fantastic. Yeah. Well, it was surreal because he's one guy I sure did like. Yeah, yeah. You liked him. Rod, I want to ask you this question, and I'm sorry to keep charming in, but what did you think when you heard the news that Truman had allowed a bomb to drop on Hiroshima? What did you think about that when you heard that? What was your reaction? My situation was such that I was with a group of guys that we were on a special assignment, and we just hugged each other. And we felt that we were headed for Tokyo. That's where we were going to go. That's where you thought you thought that's where you were going to go? Yeah, I did not even think about just the way it affected people and what it did. We had no clue as to the power of that thing. We thought we did. We thought we did, but we didn't. We did not. And after we thought it through, it was a little different, but you say immediately, we were so happy because we just thought the war was going to be over. And you wanted that war over? That's what happened. And we were ready to go home. Yeah, no. Over the course of your 101 years, you were born when Warren G. Harding was president. When I was born in 52, Harry Truman was president. I still can't believe it. But I had to go back to Warren G. Harding and on and on and on. Who was the first president that you voted for? Me. Paul Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt. So were you a Democrat or were you a Republican? At the time, I wasn't anything. And I still am not, really. But in any case, Roosevelt. Yeah, we thought a lot of him. My grandparents did, too. They loved him. You know, Rod, I wanted to show the audience how sharp you are. And so I was going to throw out a few trivia questions. I'm going to throw out this trivia question for you. And we've got prizes for you, by the way. Can his daughter also answer? Yes, you can help if you'd like. Rod, I'm going to refer to one of the greatest singers of all time. He became very popular in the 50s. He was a rock and roll singer. He was from the south. He was part of the million-dollar quartet. He was just an incredible rock and roll singer, very well-known throughout the country, born in a small town called Faraday, Louisiana. Would you please tell me who that famous rock and roll singer is? From the south. Yeah. I wasn't an Elvis. Oh, I'm sorry, Rod. It was Jerry Lee Lewis. Elvis was Tumblr. A couple of Mississippi. Jerry Lee Lewis. I knew it. But you know what he said, though? He said, it wasn't Elvis. In other words, instead of, oh, that was Elvis. I got a couple more for you. So far, you're all for one. No, no. Well, along the music, along with the music, you grew up, Rod, with listening to, you know, really watching the change from being Crosby, Frank Sinatra, to Elvis, to the Beatles, to et cetera, et cetera. Any thoughts on that or how music has changed and who is your favorite musician of all time? Who do you like to listen to? Well, the best singer for me was being Crosby in his today. Yeah. There's no doubt about his voice for me. But I loved all of it. I liked Dean Martin. I sure did. I liked Perry Como. Yeah. And Jerry Lee Lewis, I liked. He died, you know, he was recently. Yes. He was big in Iowa. Oh, yes. Yeah. Jerry Lewis was big in Iowa. And of course, Iowa is where, as we know, Buddy Holly passed away. Yes. That's exactly right. And when that happened, Rod, when you, that was about in 1959, you were now 26 years old. Were you all living in Iowa at the time? Yeah. Yes, I was. And so, do you remember getting the news that Buddy Holly had died in a plane crash? Oh, yes. And what did you think? Well, it was a tragedy. Yeah. Have you ever been to the surf ballroom, by the way, in Clearlake? Have you ever been to the surf ballroom where he was supposed to play? Oh, yeah. I have, yes. You've been there? Yes, of course. Yes. Yeah. Carter Lake was pretty close to ours. Do you remember who you saw there when you went? Bigger pardon. Do you remember what acts you saw, who you saw? Oh, no, I don't. I think they had some bands. Yeah. They had some bands that used to travel through some of the old bands. Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Yeah. Right. Because we had, we did, we were surprised well with the large bands. They came through frequently, and we had the Coliseum and so on. Did you ever play an instrument, Rod? I never did. Never did. Did you ever sing? I can't play the radio. He's also a comedian. Yeah. Yeah. Justin, getting to you. Yes. You're born in whatever. You're not going to tell her age. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah. I've earned it. It's okay. Trust me, you do not. I know your age and trust me, you don't. Don't count. You were in the 50s and the 60s, and so who were your favorite artists have been? Because they've been around the 50s and 60s as rock and roll started coming to play. Who was your favorite? Oh, in the 50s, I liked whoever my sister's like then. And that would have been? I think it was Buddy Holly. Yeah. I think he was a very big one. Yeah. Yeah. How about Bobby Raidell, a friend of mine? Oh, yes. And you love Bobby? Bobby Raidell, yes. And he used to come to Des Moines a lot and play in the ballroom there. Yes. So Val Air, I think it was called. Sure. Did you ever see him? I never did. My sister did. And by the way, my other dear friend, Brenda Lee, they had won the radio yesterday. They taught 50 artists of the 60s. Beatles were number one. Yeah. And Paul was Brenda Lee. Really? Yeah. Yeah. In terms of record sales back then. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, and where did you go to college? I went to, right out of high school, I went to the University of Northern Iowa. Okay. And, but completed my education at the University of Idaho. Okay. Later. Yeah. Yeah. To just continue with music a little bit. Yeah. So you're, I'm not going to get into your age at all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And beginning to listen to some of the new rock and roll of Rolling Stones and all of that, which I grew up with. Yeah. What did your dad think when you, when, about the Beatles and some of the rock groups that were, that you liked? Would he also, did you also appreciate some of the music your daughter listened to, Rod? Well, I liked the music that they had. You did. I like it today. He didn't give you a hard time about, what is this crap? No, no, no, never. Very, always very supportive of any interest that we had. Even if he didn't like it, we wouldn't have known it. Okay. Cause he wouldn't. That's wonderful. He was very supportive. So, and, so when growing up, there's four kids, you're the youngest. You have a dad that's very busy in his job. And you folks moved because Rod, I, I know that you went to a town, you moved to a place that I am very fond of, cause I still have a cousin in law who lives there. My dear cousin, Chuck Clark, lived in St. Louis, Peace Bowl. And you lived there for, for how many years? Dad went when he was about 17 or 18. I got you. Okay. Yeah. So that was long before. Okay. So, that's a beautiful town, beautiful area. And, and you go back to California. We were going every year after I retired. We were going before I retired. We used to take a month of February and go. But I, I, I was out there by myself. I was just a kid out there. I went out there when I was probably 18 or just barely 18. I'm pretty sure that's what I was because I had been to Missouri to work and I came home and went immediately out there because there was still no work that I wanted to do. And I wasn't going to stay in Des Moines and work on a farm. Yeah. So, I was out there and I came home because the war started. I, I came back, left the job. I took a leave of absence from the Western Electric. You may know that company. And that's where I began the telephone work. And, and Rod, you said that you retired. Would you retire at age 96 or 97? How old were you when you retired? Oh, I was 60 when I retired. Okay. I retired at 60. I retired at 60 so I could work at the golf course and play golf. Right. That's wonderful. Which is, by the way, you also went to I-RIN to install equipment for the AT&T and I ran. What year was that? You did that? 77, 78, 79. Okay. I came back because of the, they took it over. The, the uprising. Right. And so, and so you were there just prior to the I-RIN situation, which, by the way, Rosalind Carter just passed away. Jimmy Carter was. Yes, she is. And I'm going to give you another trivia question, Rod. There was a big main tie to Jimmy Carter, a huge tie to the state of Maine with Jimmy Carter and including the I-RIN situation. I'm going to ask you, what is the tie to the state of Maine about Jimmy Carter? Do you know what it is? I wouldn't, I have a clue. Oh my God, I'm so sorry, Rod. Go ahead, Rob. Ed Muskie? That's right. Secretary of State would have been Ed Muskie back then. That's how George Mitchell got it. You owe for two on that one, buddy. Did you get on the show? Did you know, did you, did you know Muskie? Let me ask back up just a bit. You like, you like Muskie. I didn't know Muskie. He was a big guy that's all I knew. Yes, he was. Yes, he was. When did you guys move to Maine? How did you end up here? I ended up here because my daughter and my daughter Chris was here. I moved here because I was alone. My family disappeared from Iowa. Yep. And the last one left a year ago. I left there a year ago. We were on our way here, really. One time, Barbara and I because she was failing and I was too. Anyway, we planned on coming and didn't get here, the two of us. So finally, I made the move last, a year ago, last August. So I'm new to Maine. Okay. Well, welcome. Yes. And the thing is, Rod, another thing is that you, you cannot see, the lights in the studio, you can see, correct? I mean, you can see the lights here, but you can't see figures, correct? Right, right. Yet, you skied, have skied within the last five years. Where did you ski? downhill skiing. Oh, I skied in, in, in Des Moines. They have ski slopes. They do? Yeah. I was very healthy. I thought, oh, I was healthy. That's an abrasive. That's right, that's right. Yeah, I skied. Yeah, I did. How long have you not been able to see, Rod? I'm 17 years, almost, December will be 17 years. So obviously, you haven't been playing golf. I did play golf. How? Because the way I skied, I guess. Pretty bad. Pretty bad. But I continued to play golf. I played by last round of golf, nine hole, or what about for nine? I, probably a year ago, well, it's been two years now. That's incredible. Yeah, I was. That's amazing. A year I was 100. I skied, but I had. God bless you. You skied at age 100. That's going to be a Guinness Book of Rockets thing. No. Well, I played, I played golf. You played golf at a high. Yeah. Well, I had to have someone, someone take me, drive me there, drive the cart. And they had a program in Des Moines, and it was great for me. How did you shoot? Terrible. Yeah. I did what... You know, that is a kind of a handicap, you know, not being able to see golf. You know, I have too many guys playing blindfolded. Well, I did make a birdie. I've got a good friend. You got a birdie? Yeah. I made one with Ben Schwartz in Des Moines. He brags about it, and I just let him go. I think that's great. But, oh yeah, I played with he and his wife. With who? Who was this? Yeah. Who did you play with, Ron? A fellow where I lived in the home in Des Moines. A friend. Yeah. Ben Schwartz is his name. He was a toy operator. Yeah. He owned toy stores. But I met him there, and he was great. Ron. That's amazing. Getting back to your health. Your sight, not good, but your hearing. Your hearing seems to be just fine. Is your hearing good? It's not wonderful. It's better than mine. Well, I'm not sure. Well, I have a hearing aid. Yeah. But your mind is as sharp as a tack. Derry? Yeah. You have to work at listening. Yes. Me especially, Ron. They did a show on Nazism today, and I ranked 9 out of 10 on that one. Okay, I'm not surprised. But that's okay. Anyway, it was fun to do that. Rod, you, 101. It's incredible. You look fantastic. And it's so great to meet your daughter. Sitting back, you listen to the news. You listen to what's going on in the world. What are your feelings about where we're headed as a country? Any thoughts about that? Because you've lived through world wars. You've lived through assassinations. You've lived through civil rights, unrest, protests. This one out? What are your thoughts in terms of where we are as a country? Are you still optimistic about? I am that. You are? Yes, I am optimistic. We have to be. We just have to be. That's the way I lived. I've lived my whole life being optimistic and positive about... It's just a positive world for me. And I had a wonderful situation with my family. My wife particularly, of course. And there was a positive attitude. I haven't changed on that. Not a bit. I disagree with a lot of people about some things. But I have to be still about some of those things. Because I'm more critical and more pointed. And you get a little older and you say things that you probably shouldn't say. But really, there's a... I don't know the answers. I sure don't know the answers. I think I do. I think I'd like to replace some people with me. But it's a little late. Interesting. Oh, yeah. Rod, people always ask this of people that are your age. They say, what's the secret? What's the secret to your longevity? I have a glass of wine every night or whatever. And your secret sounds to be your positive attitude. Constant positive attitude, no matter what. Well, I just think you have to be. Well, you just have to be. Well, you have to be. But much of the world population is not. Well, since I've been around Chris now here pretty closely, we used to talk a lot, of course, before I came here. And there are some things that are better off if I try to avoid getting too involved in thinking. And adjust your thinking to maybe avoid some of those things. And I still listen to everything. I'll listen to anything. But don't dwell on it. You also read a lot. He reads a lot. Chris, you wrote that as one of your comments about him. That you read a lot. And Rod, you gave me a book about golf. And by the way, folks, I was in Rod's home yesterday. First of all, outside, most beautiful red tree I've ever seen. But home is immaculate. You walk in. It's 20 times needed in my house. And I just was so impressed to know that you like to read. And you also note, Kristen, that you and Rod went and you say Disney World here, but I'm afraid you're wrong. The year was 1958. Disney Land. Which I've also been to. So when you went to Disneyland, Kristen, in 50, which changed the world, by the way. You know that did. By the way, I consider it one of the greatest human beings ever to be Walt Disney. I said that. I was at Disney World. I said, by the way, you know, one of the greatest men ever lived was Walt Disney. What was your favorite ride at Disneyland? Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh. Did you do the Matterhorn? Was the Matterhorn there? Yes. Terrifying. Yeah. It's not a, it's not a, it's a scary ride. Yeah. It is a scary ride. Probably my favorite at that point was the teacups. Yes. Oh, of course. Yes, the teacups. Of course. And Rod, I got to ask you, what was your favorite ride? What was your favorite attraction at Disneyland when you went? I don't know. I think probably the boat. The boat that we were on the boat. The Liberty Belt. The Liberty Belt. It goes around. The Big White Boat. Yeah. Yeah. That's one of my favorites. Yeah. And by the way, Rod, you would be almost, you would be about the same age as Snow White. Well. That movie, that movie came out. And you would have known her personally, I think. Yeah. Well, I was a pretty cocky guy because I lived in California. Sure. And so, but we traveled a lot about, Disneyland opened in 55. That's right. And we drove out there in 55. That's great. Rod, to go back to reading, what are you, what books do you like to read, Rod? Well, I'm reading, I've been reading for a long time. J. Edgar Hoover right now. Okay. Yeah. And a little of that. In the meantime, I'm reading other books that I've gotten. The golf book that you talked about. Charlie Charles, I can't remember his last name. The writer that was injured so young. And on the, he wrote for the, he wrote a column out of New York Times, I think. And we used to get that in the morning. Yep. And so, I... How do you read? Yeah, yeah. Do you do audio books? How do you read? Yeah. I have a reader and I place a book in the reader. It photographs and repeats back to me. Oh, wow. So, you listen to it? I listen to it. And then I... And what's the voice? What's the voice sound like? Well, the voice is varied. They have different voices. I stick with the male voice. Yeah. Female. It's like you're pulling like anything today. They can vary that voice. I'm going to get you a copy of my daughter's and my audio book. A Broadway actor did it for us. Anyone else? That audio book. The old book Full Circle is an audio book. Yeah. And I'd like to have you listen to it. I'm with the library. The state library for the blind. So, I get audio books all the time. I'm reading those all the time. Wonderful. Good for you. Yeah. Rod, I got one more trivia question for you that I'm done. You're so fine. You're not doing too well. There's a very famous singer, Judy Gallant. I'm sure you know her. Judy Gallant did a performance of a song that they considered to be perhaps one of the greatest performances ever done. They mentioned it. It was done in the 60s. And whenever they talk about it, it was a hit, by the way. Whenever they talk about it, they say this was one of the greatest performances ever done by Judy Gallant. What would the song be that Judy Gallant sang, Rod? Well, of course, the most famous to me is up somewhere over the rainbow. Right. Is that your guess, Rod? I guess. Is that your answer? Is that your final answer? Well, I'm sorry, Rod. It was Putting on the Ritz. I would have been with Rod on that one. That was a trick question. They all were trick questions. The musky one was the worst one. Well, I wouldn't have picked that at any time. I never would have either, Rod. You know, the only reason I said it, because I heard it on the radio the other day, the guys said, ladies and gentlemen, let's consider me one of the greatest performances of all time. They still play it on YouTube and stuff. It's Judy Gallant, Putting on the Ritz. By the way, a famous actor also did that in the movies. You are going to get this one. He was a famous actor, handsome man, big ears, had big ears that stuck out and was in one of the most famous movies of all time. And that would be Clock Gable. Well, the ears would give that away. Clock Gable. Yeah. Clock Gable had big ears. Oh, they stuck out. Remember the cartoons? Remember you see the cartoons that they used to do bin cross, the Looney Tunes and the Clock Gable with his ears out there. You're showing your age, Rod. No, I'm too young. Rod, what do you think of social media? What was your reaction? The technology advances in your 101 years is just remarkable. As long as I can see, it didn't bother me. But today it does. Talk about that, Rod. Today it does. Why does it bother you? Yeah. Well, I guess because I don't believe half of it. Good. And the other half is junk. I don't know. I just bothers me. I think there's way too much time spent on it. And I don't think the result is really good. I think it's caused as much trouble as television has. Yeah. I used to like television too, but that's seen so much. Although I still like television. I still like to listen to it. What's some of your favorite shows, Rod? I don't have any anymore favorite shows. Basketball games, golf, baseball, and football. And basketball is a little quick for me. And by the time I find out what team is playing, it's over. Are you a Red Sox fan? Well, he is now. I have to be now. But growing up, did you watch Major League Baseball? I mean, Babe Ruth was playing when you were... Well, I went to ball games. Did you ever see Babe Ruth in person? I never saw Babe Ruth. I know. What teams did you see play, Rod? Well, Cardinals and Cardinals. Stan Musio? Yeah. We saw them in Arizona. We have the Cubs. We've seen the Cubs too. The Cubs AAA, we had that in Des Moines. Oh, you did? So those players were shifting back and forth. And we've been to the winter camps in Arizona on the way to California or back and stayed there. That is a great vacation, by the way, to spend your time at the Red Sox winter camp. And whichever team you pick, yeah. Rod, do you ever remember hearing or watching Wink Mountain Dale? Oh, yes. Yeah, well, he's a friend of mine. Yeah, he is. And his wife's a friend. And she dated Elvis. And I've also met Priscilla Presley, who now they have a movie about her. And I love dropping names, Rod, because every time I do, somebody's able to talk me. Gianni Russo, my God, we asked if he knew the Pope. He goes, I'm wearing a cross given to me by Saint John Paul. How about Putin? I know him too. So can you tell us who might have been one of the most famous people you ever met? Other than Truman, of course. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Any other famous people that you might have met? Other golfers. Well, talk about some of the golfers. Ben Hogan, Sam Snead. Well, yeah, both of those two. And then, of course, Art of Palmer and Jack Nicklaus. Yeah. And the kid from Southern California. Tiger. Well, no, Tiger. I haven't seen him in my life. Yeah, okay. Do you consider him the greatest golfer of all time, even beaten Nicklaus, the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger Woods? You can't say he is. You can't say he's not. Yeah. But I don't know. Record-wise, you can't say he is. Right. Jack Nicklaus. Absolutely is. And so he had a good chance. And I'm sure he would have made it. But he didn't. Well, I just read today where he's coming back. Did you hear that, too? Yes, I did. It's not on the 30th. Right. At his tournament. One of his tournaments. I love Tiger Woods because, first of all, I saw him play one day and I hit my grandson with me. And it was a practice round at the TPC. And Tiger looked over at my grandson and winked at him. And they just warmed my heart that he did that. He did that. He was good. And I had his autograph because I represented his law firm and they got me his autograph. I wanted to meet him. And I did. I walked with him when he won his last tournament at Papoutic right here in Gablesburg. That was the last tournament he won. And I said, Arnie, I think you're going to win this. He goes, you know, I think I am. And he did. He beat Billy Casper and Gary Playa. Yeah. It was a great event. Palmer is one of the greats. But you were living when Walter Hagen was playing. Yeah. He was ending up. Gene Saracen. Gene Saracen. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Who opened the Masters every year for, you know, get out there and do the honorary hitters. And when you played Rod, you scored well. So did you ever cheat? No. I'm going to say no. Does he look like a cheater? No. I do. That's a different story. Well, I may have cheated here the last year. Yeah. Yeah. I might have forgotten. I stroke her, too. Oh, sure. Yeah. You shot a 14. You put it down as a 12. Yeah. To say never. Rod, if you were going to give a young boy or girl who was interested in taking up golf one tip, and you've been playing for a long, long time, and you were a low handicap golfer, and you've seen all the greats, what would the tip be? Keep your head down, keep, you know, left arm straight if you're right handed. What's your biggest tip? What would it be? Well. What works for you? If you could concentrate, concentrate. Yeah. If you can. Yeah. You have to. But you have to. You have to. Well, Rod, we're getting ready to wrap up. And, you know, I got to tell you something. You didn't do too well on the trivia. And so, but I got some prizes for you to take home, Rod. This first one, Rod, is something you're going to like. This is called the knapsack. You slip this over your head, and you can take a nap in church, whatever, and nobody knows. And you get complete privacy. I think that's called the knapsack sleephood. Take a nap anytime, anywhere in a meeting. Worship services or sports. That's something I think that you will enjoy, Rod. I know. And then we have this one for you, Rod. This is, you're going to lead you. This is the cabacue. This is an exhaust barbecue grill. You put it on the back of a car, and you can cook up hot dogs. And here you see a race car driver says, eat my dust and my wings, the cabacue. Another gift for you here from us folks here. And last but not least, Rod, is a book called The Road to Success. The Road to Success. It's about two inches. Yeah. And the thing is, Rod, it's very short because you're not going to need it very much. So we gave you the short version to have this. And we just want to thank you so much for coming on the show. What's this right here? Yeah. We got a few. Oh, that was going to be This Is Your Life because we thought we might do it. Ladies and gentlemen, Rob and I do want to announce to you folks that this will be our prop on one of our series that we're going to do here on this station. And that is we plan to do This Is Your Life going back to the 50s. Famous show by Ralph Edwards. And Rob and I are now working on who is going to be the first one to be the subject of This Is Your Life and will air probably sometime after Christmas. We still have a couple of minutes, Rod. I'm checking the clock. I think we got a couple more. Another question. Rod, what keeps you going? Getting up out of bed every day and just facing another day. What is the thing that keeps you going? Well, probably the thing. Right now, the thing that you were talking about earlier is that I don't know the answer to. I just get up hoping and thinking about the things that could and probably will have to happen. And they're going to happen. Or the election. Anything that's news that's good news. Right. Anything that's good news. And I eat well. You do. Yeah, like what, Rod? What's your favorite food? Anything Chris will make. Oh, my God. Oh, Chris, what a compliment to you. So what is it that you usually serve a gentleman like this? Oh, gosh. Spaghetti with some sheep. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes. Fried chicken, yes, big. Is your chicken better than Kentucky fried chicken? Yes, it is. It is? Yes, it is. I bet. My mom's. That was my favorite meal growing up as a kid. Fried chicken. Absolutely. Good comfort food. How about a glass of wine or a whiskey at night? Yeah, you have a drink. Really? Two or three. Two or three? Okay. Yeah. I look forward to that. Wait a second. Two or three? Encouragement. I like that. Now I'm encouraged. I look forward to that. That evening thing is I look forward to it. Good. We do as well. Yeah. I start slow and stay slow. Yeah. Yeah. And Rod, you have any pets? No pets. No pets? You could though. You could have a cat, right? I love animals. I always have them until I couldn't see them. Yeah. They'd be on a trip. I have a landlord who has a cat. So I see her. Okay. She comes to visit a lot. The cat. The cat does. Oh, I see. That's a landlord. But the cat. Yeah. He's talking to you. There is nothing better in the world than a wonderful daughter or wonderful son. My daughter Nikki, my niece Liz, I have people in my life like a daughter, my caretaker Emily, I have people in my life. And I want to compliment you because if someone said to me, what do you think is the secret to Rod's longevity? I'd say having met his daughter, I would say her. Oh, okay. Thank you. Rod, I have been such a delight to work with. Ladies and gentlemen, it's been so much fun. Well, we're going to wrap up now, folks. And Rod, you know, we were going to get you a birthday cake and put 100 candles on it. But our show is only an hour long. We don't have the budget for 100 candles. That's right. We knew you. I can't thank you enough, my dear friend. You've become a dear friend of me in my neighborhood. We're going to put an ad in the Cape Courier so they all watch it. And the people of Cape Elizabeth can see their most distinguished citizen. Ladies and gentlemen, we will be back with another big star where Rod and I are talking about possibly going to England where we've got some big hitters we're going to try to interview. Thank you very much for watching the Runlet and Baldachi Report. Thank you.