A TALE OF
SELF-RELIANCE & INDEPENDENCE
110 Years of Walter Casey Jones is the saga of the Last Man Standing from his generation. Despite evolving through poverty-stricken 19th century circumstances, Walter Casey Jones combined the proper proportions of common sense, careful precautions and nutrition, to remain active and productive to age 110.
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Throughout his oral biography, the renowned super-centenarian unravels his step-by-step transformation from illiterate child of the 1870s, through eleven decades of itinerant American survival, a remarkable life-journey that was propelled by his positive mental attitude, paving the way for his unprecedented longevity.
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Jones' monumental resilience was touted in the inaugural volume of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise. His became number 72 of their "101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit."
Displaying exquisite recall, the durable centenarian recounts his 1872 through 1982 adventures; including decades spent roaming America in search of a suitable destiny.
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His vivid recollections will astound, inspire, and bestow the reader with keen insights on how Walter Casey Jones became history's only independent Super-Centenarian.
The Walter Casey Jones oral biography, 110 Years Positively of Walter Casey Jones unveils an unprecedented literary journey, filled with a century’s worth of mind-boggling recollections.
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The ancient fellow gained world-wide recognition by surviving independently to super-centenarian status (age 110). Incredibly, during the seven years before his (accidental) death, he drove his old motor home solo, throughout the USA, promoting himself one-on-one by day and dry-camping in grocery lots at night.
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When he turned 109, seeking stronger impact with his message, Jones partnered with Immortality Incorporated. They produced a lecture tour that showcased his amazing wisdom, humor and vitality. The centenarian vigorously preached his gospel of longevity to American audiences during an eight-month campaign of 97 total performances.
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The Jones oral biography 110 Years of Walter Casey Jones contains entertaining reminiscences filtered through the old fellow’s unflappable optimism. The unique paths that confronted his journeys and his choices exemplify the Triumph of the Human Spirit.
ORIGINS
In 1981, (author-lecturer) Philip Tennyson, founder of Immortality Incorporated, partnered with centenarian Walter Casey Jones. For eighteen months the pair drove their RVs coast-to-coast across America, performing motivational lectures together at 97 events along the way.
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At 109, Jones was completely self-reliant. He resided in an old motor home, kept in daily motion as he dry-camped somewhere new every night.
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Between lecture gigs, Tennyson tape-recorded Jones’ detailed answers to biographical questions. The young writer was gradually able to coax a vivid string of impactful events, detailed recollections covering the 1870s through the 1980s.
Jones’ soliloquies depicted a vagabond life that began shortly after the Civil War and kept plodding forward for eleven decades.
Tennyson was convinced a ground-breaking biography could emerge from his rare Jones recordings.
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After Jones’ tragic accidental death at age 110, a disheartened Tennyson suspended the biography project. He spent his next 40 years conducting Immortality Incorporated media projects with his media-savvy millennial son Damon, always by his side.
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In 2019, Damon came across a used copy of a 25-year-old best-seller, Chicken Soup for the Soul at a Goodwill store. He thumbed through it and was jolted to discover Walter Casey Jones featured in an uplifting essay. Even though it was published in 1993, this triggered Damon’s obsession. Growing up, he’d heard occasional anecdotes about Dad’s eighteen-month involvement with the centenarian, but never followed up until now. He retrieved the dusty Jones archival material from the store-room and became transfixed at what he discovered: tapes, videos, news clippings, photos, slides, boxes of material. He was hooked, and confronted Dad with the demand that the forgotten Jones archive deserved to be reignited. Engulfed with enthusiasm, he offered total collaboration. He and Dad would resurrect the neglected Walter Casey Jones biography project together, and nurture it to a satisfying outcome.
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The first obstacle: transcribing the voluminous 38-year-old interview cassettes. Covid hit hard about then. Yet, the lock-downs provided the perfect opportunity to tackle those tedious chores. It seemed to take forever.
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Their next mission was even more daunting: intricately massaging the thousands of pages of repetitive transcript text down to 160,000 very polished and publishable words. The literary mission was to concoct an entertaining, easy-to-follow, first person biographical narrative that builds to a righteous conclusion.
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Imbued with Triumph of the Human Spirit as a primary theme, 110 Years of Walter Casey Jones was finally completed in early 2025 and serves as a case study of sorts, whereby an eloquent centenarian who was interviewed extensively at 109, pours out his remarkable life story. And no doubt about it, his positive attitude was instrumental for achieving his extreme longevity. He remained solidly independent to super-centenarian status, age 110.
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The Jones biography was designed to entertain, inform and inspire. To that end, the father-son team assembled a 36-page appendix with vintage photos from Jones’ personal archive.
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110 Years of Walter Casey Jones seeks to become a significant contribution of historical oral biography achievements.
ABOUT THE BOOK
OVERVIEW
In late 1980, living out of a converted Ford cargo van, Immortality Incorporated founder Philip Tennyson barnstormed the country exuberantly promoting Getting Screwed, his expose of car sales shenanigans. In Florida, he encountered Walter Jones from Tacoma Washington, who revealed he was 108. This codger filled his days roaming through American towns in his dilapidated motor home, proselytizing one-on-one about human longevity.
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Tennyson’s artistic instincts pulsated. He eventually discussed a book project with the ancient man.
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Jones’ reaction? Excitement. He became convinced his published adventures could entertain the masses and land him on the New York Times Best-Seller list; at long last, a chance late in life, to shoot for a big score.
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The old-timer was proud of his lifespan, and genuinely believed his autobiography would stir the blood of those who discovered it. Publication would also make his pathology available for universal study. Longevity-oriented readers could discern clues about his centenarian resilience.
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The pair of vagabonds formed a partnership, spending the next 18 months traveling the country in a “two-vehicle caravan.”
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Over time, Tennyson tape-recorded a century’s worth of extensive Jones recollections. Startling clues about Walter Casey Jones emerged: where he’s been, what conflicts he’s faced, what relationships he’s had, his mistakes, his triumphs, his lessons learned, and most importantly, how he managed to remain independent through 108 years.
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When the recording sessions finally concluded, Jones announced his intention to enter the professional lecture circuit. “The folks need to hear my advice,” he declared. He was determined to become an impactful motivational orator. On April 5, 1981 he turned 109.
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Next, they launched a nationwide public speaking campaign, with Tennyson playing side-kick to headliner Jones. During an eight-month-long tour, they conducted 97 rousing performances.
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With strong coaching from Tennyson, Jones gradually transformed into an eloquent elder statesman, casting a spellbinding grip on his amazed audiences. The old fellow was eventually showered with national media attention. Folks young and old embraced his uplifting message of hope. He became a centenarian rock star (of sorts). America’s oldest independent man had captured America’s heart. His April 2, 1982 guest shot on Johnny Carson further ratcheted up his popularity.
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Tragically, while his notoriety was skyrocketing, within six weeks of turning 110, Jones was accidentally killed in his motor home from propane induced asphyxiation.
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Tennyson stashed the interview tapes and other Jones material in the Immortality Incorporated storage archive. Meanwhile, he expanded his company toward video and other media production services. During the next 40 years he was continually immersed in lucrative creative projects.
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In 2019, after discovering a chapter about Walter Casey Jones in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Tennyson revisited the Jones project to assess its relevance for 21st century book-buyers. He and son Damon rescued the crusty Jones interview cassettes from the company store-room, dusted them off, and to their pleasant surprise, they still played fine.
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They listened to several and were captivated by the home-spun eloquence emanating from Jones’ frequent soliloquies. His century of life was lived out unlike any others in American history. He was a genuine original who artfully molded colliding memories into remarkable descriptions. Cherished recalls flowed, punctuated with expanding details. Hundreds of his past involvements and philosophical conclusions had been crisply preserved in the storage room for nearly forty years.
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Convinced he’d latched onto a second chance at a unique opportunity, Tennyson’s enthusiasm for a biography reboot intensified.
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From 2019 through 2025, the father-son team diligently transcribed every tape, then, carefully choreographed the ebb and flow of Jones’ conversations, distilling the essential ingredients of the centenarian’s complicated life into 160,000 words: 28 chapters of chronologically organized, first-person biographical prose.
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For enhancements, they reviewed hundreds of vintage photos and ancient documents from Jones’ personal archive, before crafting a 36-page appendix stuffed with captioned photos from Jones’ collection illustrating his early years. They also included the most iconic of the photos Tennyson had taken of Jones’ exploits, at age 109, depicting the old man in several unforgettable contexts.
100 years of resonant memories have been exquisitely captured and fill the pages of 110 Years of Walter Casey Jones. Jones’ tales, glowing with authenticity, depict the wide arc of an extraordinarily preserved human life, from his birth to super-centenarian status.
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The Jones oral biography describes his step-by-step transformation from illiterate child of the 1870s, through eleven decades of itinerant American survival, a wondrous, one-of-a-kind life-journey.
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A pressing need exists to encourage better awareness of independence as it relates to longevity and extreme aging. 110 Years of Walter Casey Jones generates a new pathway to this complex topic, and it does so with striking originality. From absorbing the Jones biography, scholars, gerontologists and other longevity aficionados can discover critical insights regarding self-reliance in extreme old age.
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Jones lived to 110, never relinquished his independence, and spent his final year cajoling audiences with therapeutic exhortations about the ways a positive mental attitude can expand life.
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110 Years of Walter Casey Jones has finally been completed and is scheduled for public release on April 5, 2025, exclusively on Amazon.com.
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Jones’ transcribed opinions and tablets of memory will astound, inspire, and leave readers wanting more.
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Those eighteen months Tennyson spent with the centenarian exploded with spectacular adventures. He and Jones traveled together, coast-to-coast, pursuing public awareness of centenarian significance. Despite the tremendous handicap of living “on the road” out of vehicles, they finally penetrated the American consciousness. Their struggles, the crises, the challenges to overcome, the old man’s tragic demise, all provided ample material for a follow-up book, Life at 109 Walter Casey Jones' Journey to Becoming the Oldest Motivational Lecturer in American History. Taking advantage of abundant archival photos and other “breath-taking” materials that vividly document this wondrous forty-year-old tale, it’s currently in production at Immortality Incorporated, and is scheduled for release in June of 2025 as a follow-up publication to 110 Years of Walter Casey Jones.
Philip F. Tennyson, the founder of Immortality Incorporated is an established writer, lecturer and film/video artist.
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During a rambunctious childhood, Tennyson became enchanted with tape recorders, and immersed himself in their magical quality to immortalize moments. In 1974 he formed his corporation, IMMORTALITY INCORPORATED. The mission: tape record personal accounts of significant people, then transcribe, edit and print the results. Tennyson assisted his clients with creating an organized, published version of their memories and opinions.
A side benefit: as his interview skills broadened, he became adept at recording life stories. Embellished with family photos, the completed booklets were meticulously structured. At the conclusion of each transaction, the customers received a supply of inexpensive copies to distribute to loved ones, relatives, and other interested parties. They had been “immortalized.” But after several years vigorously promoting it, in the end, the “biography service” never produced enough revenue. Time to shift gears!
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In 1978 Immortality Incorporated published their first commercial book, Getting Screwed, A Satire of Car Dealer Manipulation, authored (of course) by Tennyson. Based on experiences he had as a “high-pressure” car salesman, it humorously depicted manipulative tactics deployed by ruthless auto salesmen. It became a “mail-order best seller.” During the promotion phase, living out of a converted Ford van, Tennyson traversed eighteen states, performing dozens of animated lectures he called, “Let the Buyer Beware.” Back of the room sales were generous.
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Near the end of his tour, on December 18, 1980, in a Gainesville, Florida grocery lot, Tennyson befriended 108-year-old Walter Casey Jones, who, once he discovered Tennyson was a “book-writer,” pestered him for assistance with a project. “I’ve done more things in one life than anybody you’ll ever come across,” he said, “but I need to get it all out, before I die.”
He requested that Tennyson tape his hundred years of reminiscences, then somehow forge the material into a book about his life, illustrated with his vintage photographs.
After attending a Let the Buyer Beware lecture, Jones became inspired to become an impactful public speaker, himself. With Immortality Incorporated support, he wanted to get behind those podiums and reach the masses with his unique gospel of longevity. He became stubbornly determined to become an impactful motivational orator.
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Tennyson took command and launched a nationwide public speaking campaign called LIFE AT 109. He became speech-coach, program producer and even played side-kick to headliner Jones, feeding him crucial cues during live performances. Within eight months the duo conducted 97 rousing performances, expanding Jones’ skyrocketing profile, which by April ’82, had included a scintillating interview by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.
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Jones’ May 18, 1982 tragic accidental death from propane asphyxiation at age 110 scuttled his ascent and the biography project. Tennyson placed the Jones tapes and other materials in storage and got on with his life.
As years piled on, Tennyson’s 18-month adventures with the 110-year-old man became mostly forgotten, pushed aside by the daily onslaught of Immortality Incorporated client media projects.
In 2002, Tennyson partnered with his wife, renowned private investigator Linda O’Neal, to crack a local missing girl’s occurrence that attracted nationwide press coverage. The couple’s independent sleuthing actually solved the puzzling case, then, became the basis for a non-fiction book, co-written by Philip and Linda. Published in hard cover in 2006 by New Horizons Press as Missing: The Oregon City Girls, and reissued as a St. Martin's Press True Crime paperback a year later under the title, The Missing Girls. it remains a popular True Crime offering to this day.
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NBC producer Shane Bishop adapted the contents into a Dateline episode, with the private investigator character, Linda O’Neal, as the on-screen focal point for revealing the unfolding events in the mystery. The Dateline documentary titled, Into Thin Air, premiered on NBC on January 27, 2006. Audience reaction was stunning!
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In late 2007 Tennyson and his wife contracted with Adams Media to write The Everything Guide to Private Investigations. Two years later they produced another investigation guidebook, Private Investigation Essentials.
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Tennyson had always been sensitive to how his Jones material never got properly developed. Then, in late 2019 his millennial son Damon discovered a heart-warming story about Jones in an old copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul. He confronted his dad, stimulating new curiosity about the ancient project. Together they retrieved the voluminous Jones materials from the storage-room.
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After they listened to several interview cassettes, they became captivated by the home-spun eloquence emanating from Jones’ frequent soliloquies. Tennyson’s enthusiasm for a biography reboot fostered what would become a five-year literary odyssey.
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They finally pared the raw transcripts down to a single 160,000-word volume, with an added 16-page appendix, crammed with vintage photos, plus dozens of shots Tennyson took of the centenarian during his 18-month ride on the Walter Casey Jones Express.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR