Here's a short story you might enjoy about one of the longest lived men in Western history as written in J. Oswold Empringham's book, "Pandora's Box -- What To Eat and Why."

Westminster Abbey was begun by King Lucius in A.D. 170. The vaults are crowded with illustrious dead whose monuments cover the walls of the vast church. One of the smallest slabs -- more interesting than all the fine marbles to princes and poets -- says:

"Thomas Parr of ye county of Salopp, born A.D. 1482. He lived in ye reigns of ten kings: Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth, James I, Charles I. Buried here November 15, 1635. Aged 152 years."

Before Parr was interred in Westminster, his history was carefully investigated. The parish register of his native village proves he was baptized in 1483. Legal documents and court entries show that he inherited a small farm from his father in 1560, and that he took a wife three years later when eighty. He married again in 1605 at the age of 122. When over 130 he pleaded guilty, in court, to the charge of being the father of an illegitimate child. He was a farmer all his life. His great age attracted the notice of the King who invited him to the palace for a visit, as the King wished to investigate his exceptional longevity.

Parr's last days were spent in the palace. History says his perfect faculties and marvelous memory made him a matchless entertainer. No wonder -- what reminiscences a man, who lived in ten reigns, must have had!

After Parr's death, Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood, made an autopsy, by order of King Charles, to find out why he lived so long. The great surgeon's report in Latin, still preserved, states that Parr died from acute indigestion brought on by indulgence in unaccustomed luxuries.

All of the old man's organs were in perfect condition and Harvey describes the colon as normal in position and in other respects like that of a child.