There is a woman who lives in my town who plays the organ. In fact, she used to play the organ to accompany the silent films. From time to time, she stills play with the silent films at the Tampa Theatre, an exquisite throwback to the movie palaces of yore.
I don't know Rosa Rio personally, but I have seen her at many functions. A tiny birdlike woman, beautifully dressed, she can be seen chatting and mingling with many people. She usually is decked out in a wig, and wears lots of makeup, as befitting a show biz star. She walks straight, without a cane, and could pass for a healthy woman of 80 or so.
Her age has always been a secret, which she has guarded all these years. From time to time I have attempted to figure out how old she was, but no matter how I manipulated the math, I could not come up with an estimate that made any sense.
[quote]How old is the Queen of the Soaps?
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Loyal fans naturally wondered. They marveled at the longevity of a woman who accompanied silent films in the '20s, made her name playing the organ for soap operas and radio dramas at NBC in the '30s and '40s, scored more than 300 silent films for videocassette release -- and still provides live music for silent films at Tampa Theatre.
People guessed at her age, but their arithmetic failed them. Eighty? Ninety?
She made her entrance like always.
Rosa Rio ascended from beneath the Tampa Theatre stage floor, her fingers coaxing Everything's Coming Up Roses from the Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ. Her pale pink gown sparkled under the spotlight as the audience greeted her with thick applause.
It was like any other Sunday matinee performance, except for this: After decades of coy demurrals, the legendary organist had decided at last to answer publicly the question she detests.
"I don't have a gray hair on my head," Rio would swoon in her genteel New Orleans accent. "I have all my teeth."[/quote]
Well the secret is finally out. Rosa Rio is 105 years old. When I read the article in the St. Pete Times that told of her age, I was dumbfounded. The first thing that I wanted to know was what is the secret of her longevity. Was it good genes, healthy living or the stress reduction that comes from being so intimately involved in the playing of music?
Anyhow, she is a great gal, and a wonderful musician. May she keep on playing for years to come.
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