George Strausman’s wife asks him in a video what his plans are for the day. Strausman, 101, says he’s going to the office.
He then details the rest of his day: “Join my poetry class, write some poetry, then off to my pottery class, in time to make some pieces and pots. And then take my lover out to dinner.” (He means his wife of 66 years.)
Strausman’s granddaughter captioned the video, “Think about Grandpa George next time you say you’re too tired.”
Strausman recently went viral on social media for his robust calendar — in particular the pottery class he has been taking for 10 years with people half his age. And also for being “the self-proclaimed happiest guy in the world,” according to his granddaughter Francesca Rietti.
Strausman, who lives on Long Island and turns 102 this month, has become a fixture in the pottery class. New members are often startled by his age — and by the fact that he keeps showing up week after week.
On a recent afternoon, Rietti surprised him at his class and filmed him wedging a lump of clay, then shaping it on the wheel into a small pot. She posted the video on TikTok, and it quickly took off. He is the only man in the three-hour weekly class. The rest are women between the ages of 30 and 60.
The video, posted March 9, has drawn more than 3.1 million views and nearly 2,000 comments, many similar to: “We need his routine, what he eats, what he did for work, exercise? Cause WOW.”
Or, “Imagine starting something in your 90s and then still ending up with a decade of experience.”
Strausman said his sudden TikTok stardom has been a shock, and he doesn’t quite understand why millions of people are interested in watching him shape clay.
“I think part of it is the fact that not everybody lives to be 100, and that’s something that people seem to respect,” he said. “People are very nice to me.”
He said he looks forward to class each week.
“It’s a very nice group of ladies,” Strausman said. “Some of them are very skilled.”
His granddaughter said she knows exactly why people enjoy watching him on social media.
“People love it because they cannot believe he’s 102 years old and looks the way he does,” she said. “He’s such a happy, loves-life kind of guy.”
While Strausman only recently went viral, his pottery teacher said he has long been a legend in her class.
“Everybody knows George, everybody loves George. He’s definitely a star,” said Rosalie Dornstein, who has taught the pottery class for about 30 years. “He’s always been famous for us.”
Dornstein, 86, said Strausman is tireless in his commitment to improving his skills.
“He has a fascination with the wheel, which is not so easy for people even half his age,” she said. “Some of his pieces are really lovely.”
Strausman has become good friends with many of his classmates, and “all the women in the class flirt with him,” Dornstein said.
Strausman was born in New York City on March 25, 1924.
“When I grew up, you lifted the telephone off the hook, and the operator said, ‘Number, please,’” Strausman said, pointing to his iPhone, which he used for a FaceTime interview with The Washington Post. “Now I got the whole world in my hands here.”
His early years were not easy. Strausman’s father, an attorney, struggled to find work at a time when opportunities were limited for young Jewish lawyers. He found success in real estate — until the Great Depression.
“I’ve never missed a meal, although I can remember times in the Depression when my mother missed a meal,” he recalled.
At 18, Strausman went to work for his father as a construction superintendent, despite having no experience.
“I kept my mouth shut and my ears open,” he said. “I learned pretty good.”
He and his brother eventually took over their father’s business, building apartments and houses, and later, a nursing home.
“We had a philosophy: If it wasn’t good enough for your mother, it wasn’t good enough for us,” Strausman said.
Strausman still goes into the office four days a week, though his three children now run the business.
“I come to the office and give them a little advice,” he said.
On Thursdays, he takes a break from work in the afternoon to focus on his poetry and pottery — two pursuits he didn’t take up until late in life. Before that, his primary hobby was tennis, which he gave up at 90 when it got too hard on his body. He is also a chess enthusiast and history buff.
He attends poetry classes on Zoom from his home or office, and his pottery classes are run in-person by Great Neck Public Schools.
“He drives himself here, he comes, he chats it up with everybody,” said Jennifer Andersen, director of community education at Great Neck Public Schools. “To come here and remain committed to it every week is truly inspirational for all of us.”
Strausman said that despite taking classes for 10 years, he doesn’t consider himself a great potter.
“I know the difference between good and pedestrian. … I’m very pedestrian,” he said. “I make a few decent pots once in a while.”
Still, he keeps coming back.
“I do it because it’s a challenge, and it’s creative. I keep wanting to get better,” Strausman said. Plus, importantly, “It gets me out of the house.”
When asked his secret to longevity, Strausman said he isn’t sure he has one. He said he has been lucky.
“My health is good. Everybody I love is well. I can pay my bills. What should I be complaining about?” he said. “I’ve had a really wonderful life.”
He says staying active, busy and optimistic has helped him live a long life. He also attributes his good health to the support of his family, including his 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, who display his pottery in their homes.
“They’re all over my apartment, so I always think of him,” Rietti said, adding that people on social media have reached out asking to buy her grandfather’s pottery, and she plans to do a giveaway on his birthday.
She often shares TikTok videos of her grandfather giving life advice — such as “treasure your family.”
In addition to making ceramic pots for his wife, Nancy, he regularly writes poems about his love for her.
“Most of what has made life good for me has been my wife, because she’s such a terrific person,” Strausman said. “I got a great wife.”
Strausman is a believer in late-life hobbies and trying new things at any age.
“Anything that keeps your hands busy is great for you, whatever you do,” he said.
His advice: “Get up off your behind, and do something.”
The post Grandpa, 101, goes viral from pottery class: ‘Happiest guy in the world’ appeared first on Washington Post.
