You don’t meet people like Lisl Steiner every day.
Fleeing the Nazis, growing up in Argentina, and photographing Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, and JFK’s funeral during her career as a photojournalist … those things will really leave an impression on a lady.
She exemplifies zest for life.
With all her quips and zingers and hard-earned wisdom, she’s left a real impression on me. She speaks about everything from her plan for world peace (“I would take the Queen Elizabeth, put every politician on it, and sink it in the Atlantic”) to her belief in assisted suicide and even a little about her makeup choices.
She’s learned a thing or two in her years. How many years, exactly?
“I’m 88. I’m really 87 but I make myself one year older. I don’t want to look younger or be younger. I like to be one year ahead.” — Lisl Steiner
Her take on fashion and beauty is fantastic.
Like anybody else, she wants to look how she wants to look and still be appreciated for who she is.
Not that they’re the same thing.
Style is totally different from the question of beauty. Beauty, she believes, is about contentment. About how she feels.
And at the end of the day, you’ve only got yourself.
A good life is not about having great stuff.
Lisl may not care for possessions, but her memories are gems.
Take this moment, where she both reflects on the frailty of her age…
“Luck runs out. My next fall can be it. If something happens, it happens. I mean, we have a housekeeper and she says, ‘Ah, be careful.’ It’s empty because things happen in spite of you being perfect.”
…and shares that in fact, she’s an expert at falling:
“[At] 88, you become more frail. You walk like a duck to prevent several falls. I’m a fallen woman. I fell several times. …
When I was 16, I had dramatic art lessons. The first thing you learn is to fall down.
I was a mountaineer, I made love on a mountain. I was a horsewoman. So when I fall, I fall correctly.”
More amazing stories in her full interview:
