MAN’S FIRST LOVE LETTER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19987, 20 December 1934, Page 11

MAN’S FIRST LOVE LETTER

CARRIED IN HIS POCKET Until his death a few weeks ago, at the age of 91, Mr George Barker, of Wood Green, North London, carried in his pocket the first love letter he wrote to his wife, and her reply. Mr Barker had been married 65 years when his wife died in 1933. When she died he never went to the cemetery where sh was buried. “I go to the place we knew as lovers,” he used to say, “and the memory of those days keeps me going until the, time comes when I must join her.” On his 90th birthday Mr Barker walked 17 miles “non-stop” having issued a challenge to walk against any man of his age. He received only one reply, and that from a man seven years his junior. Mr Barker said he considered the handicap was unfair to him. A “youth” of 60 when he first started smoking, Mr Barker used to say that tobacco, a glass of beer, and plenty of long walks were all that was necessary for long life. His late wife joined him in his walks.