# What are the odds? Someone already famous for other reasons lived to be 111! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 2, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826 "2017-02-02T16:12:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/1 "2017-02-02T16:12:20Z")
NPR reported that he [recently died](http://www.npr.org/2017/01/16/510128936/inventor-who-made-chinese-easier-to-read-dies) but they had profiled him a few years earlier as the inventor of the Chinese pinyin alphabet, who subsequently became a well-known dissident. [Per Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercentenarian), there are only about 100 verified cases of “supercentenarians” (people who live to 110 or longer). So I just found it pretty amazing that someone who was already so well known happens to be among them. Now, sure: he’s not a household name in this country. But check out these details from the NPR story: > [@](#): > > LIM: It’s a measure of Zhou’s fame that cartoons like this one are made about his life.[…] > > LIM: Even though his life is celebrated in official documentaries by the state broadcaster, Zhou’s position is more precarious. In the late '60s, he was branded a reactionary and sent to labor camp for two years. In 1985, he translated the “Encyclopaedia Britannica” into Chinese and then worked on the second edition.[…] > > LIM: Zhou has unbelievably published 10 books since he turned 100. Some have been banned in China, making him something of a political dissident.[…] > > LIM: One final story illustrates Zhou’s unusual position. A couple of years ago, he was invited to an important reception. At the last minute, he was told to stay away. The reason he was given was the weather. But his family believes another explanation. One of the nine men who ruled China was at the event. And that leader did not want to have to acknowledge Zhou and so give currency to his political views. > > That a Chinese leader should refuse to meet this old man is telling both of his influence and of the political establishment’s fear of him. Louisa Lim, NPR News, Beijing. The guy went into a forced labor camp in the '60s, when \*he \*was in his sixties, and he lived another half century! Amazing. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/2 "2017-02-02T16:37:57Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > NPR reported that he [recently died](http://www.npr.org/2017/01/16/510128936/inventor-who-made-chinese-easier-to-read-dies) but they had profiled him a few years earlier as the inventor of the Chinese pinyin alphabet, who subsequently became a well-known dissident. > > [Per Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercentenarian), there are only about 100 verified cases of “supercentenarians” (people who live to 110 or longer). So I just found it pretty amazing that someone who was already so well known happens to be among them. Now, sure: he’s not a household name in this country. But check out these details from the NPR story: > > The guy went into a forced labor camp in the '60s, when \*he \*was in his sixties, and he lived another half century! Amazing. Guess he knew “how to live!” :p:p ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/3 "2017-02-02T16:39:48Z")
But did his longevity have it’s own world? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/4 "2017-02-02T16:56:20Z")
Did’nt Giap live an awfully long time as well? Not 111, but in three figures? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/5 "2017-02-02T16:59:26Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Did’nt Giap live an awfully long time as well? Not 111, but in three figures? Yup, 102. But Wikipedia says only 1 in 1,000 centenarians live to be supercentenarians, so there have probably been upwards of 50,000 people verified to make it to age 102. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/6 "2017-02-02T17:08:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But did his longevity have it’s own world? > [@AK84](#): > > Did’nt Giap live an awfully long time as well? Did he learn how to use apostrophes? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2017, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-odds-someone-already-famous-for-other-reasons-lived-to-be-111/778826/7 "2017-02-02T17:16:13Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Did he learn how to use apostrophes? Doubt it. English was not his first language either. Some people are like that.