Art Linkletter, a man of many causes
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As talk-show pioneer Art Linkletter grew older, he became a popular motivational speaker, encouraging seniors to embrace life. He also worked to help seniors, serving as president of the UCLA Center on Aging and as board chairman of the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation.
“I would like to live to be 150. I’ve scheduled myself for 100. I’ve signed a contract to do a professional lecture on my 100th birthday in Washington, D.C. I figure as long as I have a contract, I won’t die,†he told an interviewer in 2006.
Linkletter, who would have turned 100 on July 17, 2012, died Wednesday at 97.
One of his favorite sayings was, “Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.’
Instead of flowers, the family requests contributions to causes that were of particular interest to Linkletter. They included the UCLA Center on Aging, Pepperdine University, the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation and the Children’s Bureau of Southern California. -- Valerie J. Nelson
Photo: Art Linkletter, left, poses with President John F. Kennedy in 1961 when Linkletter was involved in an early cause as chairman of the National Easter Seals campaign. The ‘Easter seal twins’ were Patricia, left, and Paula Webber. Credit: Harvey Georges / Associated Press
