# How old is the oldest left-hander you know? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396 "2012-05-19T04:59:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BACI](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@BACI](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BACI)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/1 "2012-05-19T04:59:32Z")
Listening to the latest episode of the podcast Skeptoid, the host Brian Dunning asserted that lefties have much shorter average lifespans than right handers, an indeed that there are very very few lefties over the age of 90. Is this consistent with your experience? Do you know any lefties over 90? ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/2 "2012-05-19T05:01:54Z")
My mother is going strong at 84. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/3 "2012-05-19T05:05:12Z")
I believe my grandmother (92) is naturally left-handed, but was trained in school to use her right. It may be that you simply don’t find older people who are left-handed for this reason - at that time, left-handedness was thought of as about on par with being bowlegged, so they were ‘normalized’. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/4 "2012-05-19T05:05:44Z")
Anyone growing up that long ago were forced to be right handed from an early age, thus there’s no way to know how many converted lefties are living that long. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/5 "2012-05-19T05:06:38Z")
My age (35). The only lefties I know are the ones I know because I went to school with them. No lefties in my family or anything. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/6 "2012-05-19T05:07:44Z")
My dad, he’s 62. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/7 "2012-05-19T05:54:41Z")
80 something. But I may know people older than that who I just don’t know are southpaws. Not many of them play baseball anymore, so it’s hard to tell. Wait, I just realized I did meet a guy who passed away only a couple of years ago, and I know he was at least 89. And he was still playing softball, he would only pitch to one batter in most games, but that’s why I knew he was a leftie. And what is the podcast Skeptoid? Should we believe there’s any basis for this claim? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/8 "2012-05-19T06:01:23Z")
My Dad will be 75 in a few weeks. He was forced to write with his right hand and his writing is barely legible. I am a righty but I shoot pool left handed because that’s the way he taught me. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/9 "2012-05-19T06:27:22Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > I believe my grandmother (92) is naturally left-handed, but was trained in school to use her right. It may be that you simply don’t find older people who are left-handed for this reason - at that time, left-handedness was thought of as about on par with being bowlegged, so they were ‘normalized’. I was born in the late 1960s, and when my (Hungarian) paternal grandparents found out that i was left-handed, they wanted to force me to use my right hand. My mother put a stop to that damn quickly. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/10 "2012-05-19T06:40:24Z")
The forced right handers might be skewing the statistics for people over 90, because all of them were born at least 90 years ago when forcing right handedness was more common. But that doesn’t seem like enough to make a leftie over the age of 90 to be unusually rare. The past 90 years has also shown a lot of right handed technological development that might have caused more accidents for southpaws, or more stressful lives in some way. Even still, I’d think about 10% of the people over the age of 90 are left handed, just like those under the age of 90. ---
**Author:** ![DearestDane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@DearestDane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DearestDane)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/11 "2012-05-19T06:44:55Z")
In most cases where I have known someone to be a left-hander, I have discovered it by seeing them write. And this fact certainly gives an unbalanced picture, because - as others have already stated - a few decades ago lefties were forced to use their right hand when writing. The oldest person that I know to be a lefty, is my 63 years old brother. And, indeed, he was forced to write with his right hand. My 45 year old niece wasn’t. And I do remember having witnessed discussions about this topic in the 60’es. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/12 "2012-05-19T07:41:44Z")
Oldest southpaw I know is my dad, 63… Oldest southpaw I “know” is Paul McCartney, creepin up on 70. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/13 "2012-05-19T11:05:31Z")
My dad will be 87 next month. He’s the oldest lefty I know personally. Though I should ask him whether _his_ dad was lefthanded; I think he might have been. Grandpa Dave was 94 when he shuffled off this mortal coil. We’ve had a run of Presidents and Presidential candidates who were lefthanders. Some of the oldest ones: Gerald Ford was lefthanded, and lived to age 93. Bush the Elder is lefthanded, and will turn 88 next month. Bob Dole (89 in July) and Ross Perot (82 next month) are both lefthanded, though Dole’s lefthandedness is a matter of necessity rather than nature, having lost the use of his right hand in WWII. Presidents Clinton and Obama are both lefthanded, as is former Presidential candidate John McCain, but they’re still just in their 60s, 50s, and 70s, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/14 "2012-05-19T11:14:42Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > And what is the podcast Skeptoid? Should we believe there’s any basis for this claim? Brian Dunning is well thought of in the skeptical community. (appeal to authority:D) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/15 "2012-05-19T12:45:52Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Oldest southpaw I “know” is Paul McCartney, creepin up on 70. Ringo’s even older, and he’s a lefty too. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/16 "2012-05-19T15:32:10Z")
My uncle is a proud southpaw and will turn 88 this coming Wednesday. He’s the only leftie in my entire immediate family. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/17 "2012-05-19T23:13:25Z")
My grandmother was a lefty, and she died at age 93. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/18 "2012-05-20T00:47:08Z")
My mom is 61. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/19 "2012-05-20T01:11:30Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > My mother is going strong at 84. My mother is 91, and still going strong as well. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396/20 "2012-05-20T01:29:54Z")
My aunt is a lefty, and is 67. My grandmother was left-handed and died at age 88. I think she was home-schooled for a number of years and was not forced to be a righty. She always wrote lefty when I knew her. However, she had flowery cursive that was almost totally illegible, even to my mom. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-old-is-the-oldest-left-hander-you-know/622396.md?page=2)