On August 26, Tinniswood turned 112. He became the world’s oldest living person in April, following the death of 114-year-old Juan Vicente Pérez Mora. The world’s oldest person is currently a Japanese woman, Tomiko Itooka of Osaka, aged 116. Last week, Maria Branyas, a 117-year-old Spanish woman, died.
John Tinniswood has been retired since 1972
Tinniswood, in an interview with representatives of the Guinness Book of Records, admits that he has “no idea” why he lived so long.
A Liverpool football fan (born 20 years after the club was founded) who lives in a care home in Southport recalls that he was “quite active when he was young” and “walked a lot”, but otherwise – as he puts it – he was no different to anyone else. “You either live a long life or you live a short life, there’s not much you can do about it,” he emphasised.
Tinniswood was born the year the Titanic sank. He says he doesn’t know any secret to longevity.
