Seven OPC Presidents and fans of Roy Rowan gathered on Tuesday, April 5, to celebrate his latest book Never Too Late, which relays history and his ingredients for making a happy, well-rounded life.
Current OPC President David Andelman, along with former presidents Allan Dodds Frank, Bill Holstein, Larry Martz Larry Smith and Dick Stolley were in attendance at Rowan’s book night, with Stolley bestowing a framed proclamation from the Club. OPC Executive Director Sonya K. Fry read Alexis Gelber’s well wishes from afar, stating she was sorry to not be there in person.
Stolley said, “Whereas one Roy Rowan did chronicle the civil war Chinese Mainland and roam the far reaches of Asia. And whereas Rowan navigated the equally byzantine culture of Time incorporated (that alone is probably going to ruin what’s left of my career) and whereas he reinvigorated the OPC by opening his unsurpassed Rolodex to enlist new members… . Now let it be proclaimed…that his friends and colleagues hold Rowan in the highest regard, a man of all ages.
There are only two Americans alive who covered the Chinese Revolution, Rowan and Seymour Topping, who was also at the book night. He greeted Rowan with a hug and said, “There isn’t much that can be revealed that hasn’t been revealed in his wonderful books and before that his journalism he conducted. In all of that there’s one thing that deserves special. Yes, I was with him during the Chinese Civil War, but I walked in while he parachuted in, literally. He demonstrated his courage and determination and made a great contribution to journalism in a very obscure war.”
Andelman kicked off the discussion by relaying how he came to know of Rowan and Jordan Bonfante, who served as Interlocutor. Back In 1974, his boss at The New York Times, Seymour Topping sent Andelman to Indochina. Andelman said everyone told him he had to meet Rowan to find out everything he needed to know about Indochina, “and they were right. Seven years later, when CBS News sent me to Paris, they said ‘the only person you really need talk to is Jordan Bonfante.’ Now if you can imagine that, the two poles of my life are now sitting right here next to me… .”
Journalism is interconnected like that. In fact, Bonfonte and Rowan also go way back: Rowan was Jordan’s boss at Life magazine and they were colleagues during both of their careers at Time magazine.
Rowan said he doesn’t lean into clichés about age like you’re only as old as you feel or age is just a number. He said that when he first mentioned to friend about the good things about old age, they all said the same thing: it’s going to be a really short book. “Two hundred and twenty-four pages later… ,” Rowan said.
He said he didn’t realize how old he was until he was on a Madison Avenue bus and a young woman offered him her seat. “It wasn’t eons ago that these same two legs ran the marathon,” he said. “I finally realized I was an old man and decided to write a book and went to the library and read poems about growing old graciously. But I didn’t want to do that kind of thing, I wanted to write a book about growing old actively, virilely and put some real fun in it.” So Rowan thought about the various world leaders whom he’d met and covered as a journalist like Eisenhower, Chiang Kai-shek, and Reagan, all of whom grew old in their jobs. And that’s how the 224-page book was born.
Rowan relayed a fascinating story about celebrating his birthday in the early 1970s where then-Vice President Gerald Ford and his wife Betty were supposed to attend. Rowan said he didn’t think they’d make it given the escalating problems within the Nixon Administration, but made it they did, enough for Ford to down several martinis. The next day, President Nixon announced his resignation. The book, as Bonfonte and Andelman attested to is part history, part tour through Rowan’s life adventures.
Bonfonte said that Rowan is more than a journalist, he is also a philosopher. That throughout Never Too Late, there are signs that Rowan has always taken solace in the quiet moment, alone, meditative time. Bonfonte said, “If there’s a lesson to be drawn on dynamic aging the best lesson is to imitate Roy Rowan.”
Rowan was OPC President from 1998 to 2000 and has been an OPC member for 62 years.
Rowan wrote after the event, “I want to thank the present president and all the past presidents of the Overseas Press Club for the proclamation read aloud on the occasion of my book party on April 7, and presented to me as a framed document to hang on the wall of my office. It is a gift that I will gaze upon with pride and will always treasure.”
Watch videos from the event at youtube.com/opcofamerica