A sure way to “beat the aging blues” is to meet older men and women living full and dynamic lives, like octogenarian Phil Foster.
On first meeting, Phil seems a quiet and unassuming man, but a wealth of experience lies behind his 80 years. His career was in education, teaching mathematics, and later social studies.
When he retired at 60, it was not a time to step down for Phil. On the contrary, he stepped up to multiple fulfilling activities.
In 1999, at a New Year’s Eve party, Phil met a woman who had just acquired the franchise to run tours of the Empress Hotel. Soon after, Phil, fitted with an Edwardian suit and top hat began a post-retirement career working as a guide, a perfect fit for an ex-teacher and once upon a time actor.
and tails at the Empress tearoom. Photo: Phil Foster
“I began at the Empress and six years later progressed to historic walking tours of Victoria. Like many things in my life, becoming a tour guide was a whim of the gods,” says Phil.
Amusing incidents often occurred on Phil’s tours.
“As we proceeded down Government Street, we could hear a commotion up ahead – a ‘parade,’ consisting of a large group of naked cyclists, peddling a variety of contraptions. The men and women were of all shapes, sizes, and ages. They passed in complete silence, like a funeral procession.
“My clients, a group of elderly Australians, were struck dumb. I had spent a good part of my tour telling stories about prominent Victorians, but their lasting image of the city would be less than proper. We never did know why the cyclists were parading nude or if they were arrested!”
Another of Phil’s community activities is the Probus Club, retirees meeting for the purpose of fellowship, friendship and fun. Probus provides a venue for its members to connect with the community, meet interesting guest speakers, take field trips, and socialize over lunch at their monthly meetings.
Phil is the only Probus member to serve as president twice in his 20 years with the club.
Phil thrives on the camaraderie and the opportunities to learn. He is a firm believer in the purpose and power of community and social engagement as a key component of a well-balanced life.
Having a deep appreciation of foreign cultures, Phil joined an intercultural group hosted by Broad View United Church. The group is a place for newcomers to Canada to meet and enjoy the company of Canadians, practice their English, and explore the beauty of Victoria.
The Covid pandemic shut down the in-person program, but conversations continued on weekly ZOOMs. This was a lifeline for many. For Phil, it became the highlight of his pandemic week. Phil had the pleasure of greeting a new Brazilian couple when they arrived at the airport and witnessed their first wondrous impressions of fall in Victoria.
Phil proclaims the benefits of mixing, not only with people from around the world but with young people. “They keep me young!”
Phil began a creative writing course at 75. Compiling old travel stories from 50 years earlier, he wrote his first memoir, Travels with M. It was 1968, when he left his home in England with his new wife, Maggie, to see the world.
For two years they circumnavigated the globe, most of the journey in a Land Rover that fell apart in India. By 1970 they had arrived in Canada and decided to call it home. Travels with M vividly captures their youthful adventures and hilarious, if not risky, escapades.
“It wasn’t the places but the people that made our trip – from the ragtag banjo-playing Liverpudlian band who travelled with us for three months, to the cast of a Gilbert and Sullivan opera in Australia, to the sheep farmers of New Zealand and all the wonderfully hospitable people in India.”
His second book, Odds, Clocks, and Odd Clocks delves into the characters of his Yorkshire upbringing. It was a working-class family that worked in the coal mines, the steel mills and had a clothing store, but they made their living on the side in the illegal betting business – though Phil’s dad and grandad had no interest in horseracing.
They ran the business for 50 years without setting sight on a horse race! For Phil, a bookie’s boy, it was a colourful childhood in post-war England, never knowing his family was on the wrong side of the law.
At 21 years of age, Phil spent three months in New York City and Alabama at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. At that time, he had not heard of Martin Luther King nor any other momentous events in the USA in the summer of 1963.
“I knew more about the events in England – The Great Train Robbery and the Profumo affair.”
Forty years later he heard Martin Luther King’s impassioned speech, “I Have a Dream.” This experience sparked the writing of his third book, Coming to America -1963.
Phil has a ‘silent angel’ in his life. His granddaughter, Ella, has a rare genetic condition called Rett Syndrome that has left her unable to speak. This syndrome, seen most commonly in girls, robs them of their ability to speak at about two to three years of age.
Ella is now 13 and has an Eye Gaze Computer, first developed for the physicist Stephen Hawkins, who lost his ability to speak in his 30s.
She is a joyful child and loves horse-riding and fast rides at Disneyland. “The faster the better,” Phil states.
All proceeds from Phil’s books are donated to the Ontario Rhett Syndrome Association and Reverse Rett in the UK.
“With a healthy dose of curiosity, a desire to learn, and a good measure of luck and serendipity, my life has been good,” says Phil. “I try to solve problems, rather than create them. I’d like to think that I also know how to improvise. I plan the basics, then let things happen and try and keep out of serious trouble.” Phil does not want to dwell on the “good ole days,” but as a seasoned octogenarian, he looks forward to the next chapter.
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