Okay, so that presents a few problems, I know. Let's say this: If I am fortunate enough to make it into my 80s, I hope my ride is a sleek BMW convertible two-seater; that I still care to break down the Buccaneers' game plan the morning after the big game; that my short-term goal includes fixing up the ol' hot tub and the long-term involves volunteering in the classroom in between trips to exotic countries.
If Carolyn is a little old lady, it's the one from Pasadena. Go Granny, go Granny, go Granny, go. She remains fresh and fast, interested and involved.
Unfortunately, she does not remain in my newsroom.
After 31 years writing for the St. Petersburg Times, Carolyn retired Friday. "I always thought they'd have to drag me out of here on a stretcher," she said with characteristic humor.
Since 1987, every article published in the Times has been accessible on a computer database. Just for fun last week, I searched Carolyn's byline file and found 4,464 headlines. Now these aren't the kind of stories that will blow the lid off the town. We're not talking about Woodward and Bernstein or Lucy Morgan. For the most part, Carolyn wrote about civic organizations and clubs, "good news," if you will. Her column once was labeled "People and Parties," and to the last day if you asked Carolyn to identify the subjects of her reports, this would be her answer:
"My people."
Right up to the last minute Friday, Carolyn was making sure there was a home for all the news releases that came to her attention. She interviewed schoolchildren for the Junior Journalist awards. The day before, she grudgingly allowed me an hour to interview her for this column.
"You already know everything about me," she protested. I threatened to fire her if she didn't come into my office.
More than anything, I wanted Carolyn to share the secret of her youthful ways.
"The people in the newsroom," she answered. "The excitement of their stories."
I once told Carolyn she could stay here as long as she wanted, and it is heartening to know that she intends to contribute stories periodically, including to the Seniority section of the Times, where she has been a regular. As much as we'll miss her, we are all glad she is going to see more of the world while she is feeling strong. Carolyn, more than most, knows well that health is fragile, having survived colon cancer, a triple bypass and carotid artery surgery. She lost her husband, Alan, to cancer in 1993 after 51 years of marriage.
Alan was also a journalist and worked for the Times many years ago in Clearwater. They met on a blind date in 1940 when Carolyn Holder was an 18-year-old secretary in Jacksonville and a friend set her up with a fraternity boy at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Alan was a "silver spoon case" from New York who moved to Florida to escape the shadow of his family, Carolyn recalled. Carolyn was a third-generation Floridian, whose grandfather's mule and horse business in Wildwood evolved into one of the state's first Ford dealerships.
Carolyn's father worked 50 years as a conductor for the railroad in Jacksonville, where she graduated from Robert E. Lee High School.
Carolyn and Alan dated a few years before marriage, and Alan, a pilot, was called into the armed forces to train flight cadets. After the war the Hopkinses started a family and raised three sons: Michael, Mark and Alan. The family moved from New York to Florida, and for 12 years lived aboard a 30-foot sailboat in Pinellas County. When they finally decided to try living on land again, Alan Sr. insisted they be close enough to smell the sea, so Bailey's Bluff in the southwest corner of Pasco became home in 1972.
Carolyn has watched her little community grow from small stilt houses to, in some cases, mansions. She intends to stay there, "at least until I can no longer make it up all those stairs," and she fully intends to do something about what she calls her "jungle."
"I like gardening, and now I'll have time to do some," she said.
If she feels like it, Carolyn could get back into showing her classic 1970 Datsun 2000, a silver beauty that has earned her several trophies at car shows. But foremost on her calendar is travel, including a three-week retirement celebration to Italy and the Greek islands. In the past decade, Carolyn has visited Paris three times ("I like Paris."), England, China, Japan, Russia, Spain, Scandinavia, Tunisia and the Caribbean.
She'll turn 83 in July, but she figures there is plenty more adventure on the horizon.
