Blogger Riley dead at 108

Published: July 14, 2008 at 7:19 PM

NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia, July 14 (UPI) -- Olive Riley, an Australian woman known as the world's oldest blogger, has died at a nursing home in New South Wales at the age of 108, friends said.

CNN reported the woman who offered her observations on life and shared her recollections of the past on "The Life of Riley" Web site, and through a series of videos posted on YouTube, died Saturday. She had been blogging for about 18 months at the time of her death.

Although she mentioned her failing health in her final message dated June 26, she also said she was still singing "a happy song, as I do every day."

"She had a wonderful memory, and an amazing zest for life," her friend Eric Shackle told CNN. "Just two weeks ago, she recalled the words of a song that was popular before World War II, and sang the chorus with me. ... The thousands of loving messages she received from fellow bloggers in such places as Iceland, India, Iran, North and South America and Australia helped keep her alive in her final year. Her only regret was that she couldn't reply to them."

© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Intel to pay AMD $1.25B settlement (15 min)
UPI NewsTrack Business (17 min)
Crude oil prices slide hard Thursday (20 min)
Unemployed grandmother hits street for job (23 min)
One Canadian cow sells for $1.2 million (27 min)
UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News (41 min)
Parents object to haircut punishment (49 min)
fark
Elmo vs Spiderman vs Chewbacca: LA's superhero turf wars heat up again
John King to replace Lou Dobbs, says CNN. Dobbs' wife reportedly pleased
Guy's cell phone minutes run out, so he calls 911 five times to see if anyone will have sex with...
*POP*
Woman wins $1M McDonalds Monopoly prize. Plans to use winnings on new house, car, angioplasty
You went full North by Northwest, dude. Never go full North by Northwest