Ninety-Six and Too Busy to Die: A Life Beyond the Age of Dying

Living through the act of dying is indeed life's ultimate adventure although there is no timetable. I get up every morning and look forward to my days because I am busy, busy, busy. Smiling has become second nature. Although I am really too busy to die, so was Manya Starr, so was Al Hirschfeld, so was Irene Diamond, so was Bob Batscha. When it is my time I'll be in good company.

This timely book is must reading for anyone who wants to enjoy a life and here is evidence that there can be a good life, long past the age of dying. In fact, as Levitt got older and older and older, his life got better and better and better. President Kennedy created a new era of physical fitness for Americans coast-to-coast and Mortimer Levitt was one of the many who benefited from that new energizing lifestyle. Even though Mortimer was a high school flunk out (not drop out, but flunk out), he became another legendary rags-to-riches story. He was founder and sole owner of the Custom Shops Shirtmakers, eight-two stores coast-to-coast, no franchise, no partners, no bankers, and no debt.

Now comes the twist, and what a twist - Levitt did NOT want to be a businessman and told his first employee, George Zimmerman, that he (Levitt) would retire in five years and Zimmerman would run the company. If Zimmerman couldn't then the next guy would, and if he couldn't, the guy after that would. And that's exactly what happened except that Levitt walked out in four years. Glenn Bernbaum was Levitt's most successful (twenty years) COO. Bernbaum, with Levitt's permission, opened Mortimer's Restaurant at the corner of Lexington Avenue and 75th Street. Mortimer's Restaurant became one of society's melting pots. Bernbaum and his celebrity customers were in the columns almost daily.

Levitt was an avid skier, avid tennis player, and an avid sailor. He retired from the day-to-day management of his business on June 30, 1941, three years and ten months after the opening. This is Levitt's fifth book, all written without a collaborator, without a ghostwriter . Living past the age of dying is Levitt's forte and this book, God willing will open a different door. Levitt will be ninety-seven in February and already has sixty percent of a sixth book completed, a primer that will pave the way for college freshmen to enjoy a more successful life.

Levitt founded the Levitt Pavilion for the Performing Arts in 1972 in Westport, Connecticut and currently is paying for the construction of new Levitt Pavilions coast to coast, offering the magic of music under stars, entertainment for summer nights, and there is never an admission charge. Two Levitt Pavilions opened this past summer, Pasadena, California, and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Six more cities are standing in the wings for summer 2004.