PEABODY — Jack York drove his Vintage Voices van to the Harriet & Ralph Kaplan Estates on Thursday for the most recent stop on his interview series.
York took Rose Quarato, Charlie Kanter, and Jenny Ruggiero on drives around the city for recorded interviews. As they sat in the passenger’s side of his well-traveled van, each vintage soul shared advice, life experiences, smiles, and laughs.
Quarato, who is 103 years old, gave York a “therapy session,” as he described it, with her psychic abilities as they drove through the city.
Kanter, who will turn 100 years old on Dec. 22, told York about growing up in Connecticut, working as a farmer, and the keys to staying active in the dating scene.
“The code of my life is, ‘Try to be a good person, to be good to people, and help people when I can,’” he said. “That’s my code of living, and it has served me well.”
York drove Ruggiero, who will turn 100 years old on Aug. 28, to her home of 70 years in Peabody.
She was raised in Lynn and bought her home in Peabody, where she raised her two daughters, on April 25, 1951 for $9,900, she said.
As she approaches a century, Ruggiero said she is most proud of her family — her two daughters, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren.
There is no secret to her long life, she said.
“Just take it one day at a time. I didn’t do anything special, that I know of,” Ruggiero said.
Vintage Voices is a production of Dash Media and York’s company, TaleGate. The project focuses on people who are 100 or older across the country, York said.
“It’s all about really elevating aging and elevating senior living through the stories,” he said.
York said he has interviewed nearly 50 people who are 100 or older over the past four months across 14 states.
“My own kind of cultural take is that there’s kind of a subtle perception that once you hit your 80s, it’s time to kind of check out,” he said. “Why we’re focusing on the 100-year-olds is to try to just motivate people that there are still reasons to stay in the game.”
With TaleGate, York drives a 42-foot trailer across the country to share the stories of people who are 80 or older through recorded interviews and documentaries, he said.
While TaleGate’s mailing address is in Littleton, Colo., he said it is truly based out of the van.
“Between the documentaries and this, I’m on the road 45 weeks a year,” he said.
“For me, the most rewarding thing, by far and away, is the look on people’s faces when you just ask them questions — when somebody cares,” York said. “They are a group of people that are humble. They’ve lived incredible life experiences, and nobody asked them.”
The Harriet & Ralph Kaplan Estates is one of the communities of Chelsea Jewish Lifecare, a Legacy Lifecare affiliate with three communities in Peabody and three in Chelsea.
York said he decided to interview residents of Chelsea Jewish Lifecare because of his connection with its chief operating officer, Elizabeth Mullen.
After spending 25 years in the senior-living industry, he said it is a “relationship-driven” industry, and the community is supportive of its residents and each other.
“Everything I’m doing is about elevating aging,” he said. “The people that work in the community see it every day. I’m just trying to bring it to light through different social-media channels.”
