“Dear Mr. Derbyshire—In reference to your Corner post on the death of

Alicia Markova, I too had a similar shock a few weeks ago. I discovered

while reading that Max Schmeling is still

alive. Born in 1905, he won the heavy weight crown in 1930, lost it in

1932, defeated Joe Louis in 1936, and lost badly to Louis in 1938.

Schmeling also survived WWII, and after the war he enjoyed a long career

with Coca-Cola. He certainly has experienced a long and interesting

life–so far.”