[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 52 (Wednesday, April 21, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING SALEM SHAPIRO'S 95TH BIRTHDAY

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                          HON. KAREN McCARTHY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 21, 2004

  Ms. McCARTHY of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, on Friday, April 23, Salem 
Shapiro, a retired city planner now living in Redding, Connecticut, 
will celebrate his 95th birthday. Normally on an occasion like this, I 
would hail his service in the Pacific Theater during WWI and salute the 
idealism with which he battled suburban sprawl and exclusionary zoning. 
But such a standard tribute to his 60-year career misses the larger 
message of his life: his joyful refusal to bow to the cliches of old 
age.
  Like many senior citizens today, Salem Shapiro took up writing in his 
late eighties. But instead of dwelling on autobiography and family 
genealogy, he composed satirical essays that channeled the spirit of 
Jonathan Swift. Claiming to be a master of ``Non-Euclidean, Non-Linear 
Logic,'' he puckishly suggested that the elderly were fast becoming an 
endangered species because of their ``unusually low birth rate when 
compared with other sectors of the population.'' His remedy was to 
champion the mythical organization called ``Save the Elderly from 
Themselves.'' Then there was his mocking proposal to deal with the high 
cost of campaigning by suggesting that the presidency be let out for 
auction, thereby enriching the Federal Treasury rather than individual 
TV stations.
  But nothing better captures Salem Shapiro's indomitable spirit as 
well as a poem he wrote a few years ago entitled ``An Attitude.'' The 
last two stanzas deftly summarize his philosophy of aging:

     I too have lived a lifetime
     Enjoying myself and serving society
     But I will not allow me
     To be cast off like the leaf
     In the Fall of my life.

     I shall continue my activity
     In interacting with friends
     And people and groups such as this
     That constitutes my tree
     And resist turning dry and crumble.

  Longevity encompasses far more than luck and genes. It is, in many 
ways, the ultimate art form.
  Mr. Speaker, please join me as I hail Salem Shapiro on his 95th 
birthday.

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