102-year-old suburban author publishes first book – NBC Chicago

At 102, Carol Landow is one of the oldest residents of the Peace Village Independent Living community in Palos Park, and is now part of an elite group of first-time writers of centenarians.

“I didn’t want to stop until I had done everything,” she explains.

The book is called ‘The Adventures of Missy’. It is a children’s book inspired by her grandchildren’s cat that went missing in the woods and turned up on her doorstep a week later.

She says she wrote the story for them and dedicated its completion to them.

“They’re so far away, I hardly ever see them and so this will be my legacy,” she says.

Landow had written a draft nearly 20 years ago and says she had largely forgotten about it. But early last year, she finally decided to finish the project, and coincidentally, Peace Village offered a writing and illustration course.

“It was a message from God to me to do it,” she says. “When you signed up for (the class), it seemed like everything fell into place.”

Last spring she started the book again. Her daughter helped her with the illustrations and her friend Debi Pope helped her navigate the computer. She was working at least two hours a day.

“I didn’t even mind getting up in the morning. I was like ‘oh, now I can try another page,'” she said.

Landow completed the book in shorter order and sent the manuscript to the publisher last fall.

Peace Village CEO Roger Ellens is proud of Landow’s achievements and hopes his example will encourage others.

“She’s very inspiring to everyone,” he says. “It’s never too late. There are a lot of people here who started painting at the age of 90.”

“It’s a miracle I did it,” adds Landow. “I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but today is fine.”

All proceeds from the book benefit a charitable fund to help Peace Village residents who have outlived their financial means. You can purchase “Missy’s Adventures” at the Peace Village Gift Shop.