Senior Suzuki puts himself under microscope for new show on aging
Credit to Author: Dana Gee| Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 19:07:58 +0000
When his boss at the CBC first brought up the idea of aging as a topic for The Nature of Things, host David Suzuki was interested but not sold on the concept.
The plan presented to the scientist and environmentalist was about how science was going to make us all live way, way longer than the average 84 years for women and 80 years for men.
“I looked at the proposal. And it was a typical thing. You know, science is discovering ways of getting fruit flies to live 50 per cent longer, and they’re doing all of these fancy DNA things, and maybe scientists are gonna extend life by 70 or 80 years. And I said, ‘This is such bull—t,’ ” the 83-year-old Suzuki, co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, said over the phone from his Vancouver office.
Suzuki explained that humans have evolved to live a certain amount of time and we’ve pushed that mark a bit through science. In the end, though, for him, it comes down to quality not quantity.
“We’re living longer, but you know, after the age of 65 or 70, things are not that great,” added Suzuki. “Who wants another 60 years of a sh—y life? I am much more interested in how do we age well.”
So that’s what the new Nature of Things’ episode Aging Well Suzuki Style is all about. The show, which is one of the handful of episodes Suzuki hosts each season, airs on Feb. 28 on CBC-TV at 9 p.m. and streams on CBC Gem. The show offers a fascinating and very personal take on getting old. And it’s not surprising that Suzuki, for the most part, does well on the tests.
“I’ve got the tears of a 20-year-old,” the famed scientist and environmentalist said with a laugh. Another key strength for Suzuki was he had pretty good balance, a major key to aging well and avoiding injury.
When it comes to aging well, balance is a key component in keeping seniors going. Here David Suzuki goes through the motions of testing his own balance during a new The Nature of Things episode on aging that hits CBC-TV and CBC Gem on Feb. 28. Photo: CBC
He credits an early physical lifestyle of farm and construction work as a basis for his strong senior shape. He still rides his bike regularly, works out and walks whenever he can.
While his early life consisted of physical work, all that went out the window when he turned to a life of science. It took a bit of insecurity to motivate him to take better care of himself.
“When I got into the lab, I was sitting, looking through a microscope for hours and I developed a pot (belly) when I married Tara (Cullis). I was quite chubby,” said Suzuki, who admits his younger wife made him take stock. “Here I am, this guy with a big pot. S–t, I better get into some kind of shape. I mean she’s a lot younger than me. So, I started working out. And that was, to me, really lucky. I was doing it for the wrong reasons. I’m doing it to try to stay up to my wife, but I was doing it.”
Suzuki points to the well-worn mantra of exercise being a key to a healthy, longer life. But he also quickly points out that humans seem to be fighting that basic idea at every turn.
“The way we’ve constructed society is to go to the opposite end everything is for convenience. Right? So rather than walking up a flight of stairs, there is an escalator. Or, you know, the car services,” said Suzuki.
Maintaining a healthy diet and healthy relationships also help in the quality-of-life department.
“People have to have motivation. They have to have a place in society or something they do with other people, whether it’s going to karate lessons or, you know, those sorts of things that give you a sense that you still have value in society,” said Suzuki. “For me, it’s being a grandfather. This is the most joyful and … most important time in my life because I’ve got these grandchildren (he has nine in total, four in their 20s and five younger ones).”
Your later years will also be improved by doing something meaningful, something that could be of value to the rest of society, he says. For Suzuki, that social currency comes in the form of activism, writing books, speeches and, of course, his TV gig.
“Well, you know, the Nature of Things, I think that is a huge part of keeping me engaged because I’m very proud of this series,” said Suzuki, who has become a household name over the course of his four decades of TV science. “I’m very proud to be part of it. And, you know, it’s a joy. It keeps me learning. Every show is a learning experience for me.
“But, you know, I’m not immortal. I’m going to kick the bucket — and I hope the show goes on.”
And he hopes it goes on with his daughters Severn and Sarika Cullis-Suzuki. For the record, Sarika has already co-hosted a few shows with her dad and hosted a couple of her own Nature of Things as well.
Nature of Things TV host and environmentalist David Suzuki with daughter, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki. Photo: Ian Smith/Vancouver Sun
While the show and his family keeps him motivated to stay healthy, he admits that it’s hard to stay happy as he watches more pipelines getting green-lit and trolls attacking a teen activist.
However, this foreboding sense is not new for Suzuki. Sarika, in an earlier interview with Postmedia News, said her dad was often Dr. Doom and Gloom.
When told about that moniker he laughed, but then turned serious.
“Periodically I go through depression, despair,” said Suzuki. “Fortunately, and my wife is the same, we don’t go into despair at the same time, so we can pull each other out of that.”
In the end, though, he says those feelings subside, for a bit, and he is reminded — and likes to remind others — that giving up isn’t an option and that, by joining forces, change can happen. He sticks a pin in that point with this story:
“Do you know the famous story of the hummingbird and the forest fire? It’s an Indigenous story. A hummingbird is flying through the woods and suddenly sees this huge forest fire. So, he whips over to a lake, picks up a beak full of water. It goes back and drops it on the fire, and he’s whizzing back and forth this way, and all the other animals in the forest are laughing at him and saying: ‘What the hell are you doing?’ And the hummingbird looks at them and says: ‘I’m doing the best I can.’
“We’re all those hummingbirds. If there are enough hummingbirds, damn it, we can put the fire out.”
A good way to become a hummingbird is to just take time to be in and part of the natural world — a concept Suzuki has long since championed in his bid to get people interested in protecting our tenuous ecosystems. He says he is always surprised by how little people pay attention to the world around them. Whether they’re riding a bus or running.
“I was with my grandson Ryo. We were on a path in Victoria and I spot an owl. It was a huge owl. Maybe people are used to seeing owls but I haven’t seen many wild owls. I run over with the buggy and I’m, ‘Look, Ryo, look.’ I am taking pictures and not one person stopped to look where I was looking or said, ‘What are you doing?,’ ” said Suzuki. “So they are all doing their thing running and biking, but they’re not interested in what’s going on. And, you know, the brain is a novelty-seeking device. That bird is a really exciting part of my environment, but people are shut down.”
‘Shut down’ they must be. After all, who wouldn’t want to stop when they see one of Canada’s most recognizable figures standing on a path excitedly pointing at a tree?
“Walking outside people don’t notice who I am,” said Suzuki. “It’s just an old man with a kid.”
No, not really.