New reporting shows that Randy Hingerson, 82, is not only hanging in there, but has the vigor and stamina of a crank half his age. “It’s honestly amazing,” said Gwen Darfy, one of many neighbors who have been repeatedly berated by Hingerson and now track his health very closely. “He hasn’t slowed down a bit.”
Life expectancy in Marin is among the highest in the nation, with outdoor exercise, organic food and excellent healthcare keeping people alive almost indefinitely. But such environmental factors don’t apply to Hingerson, whose life revolves around spraying his yard with forever chemicals, disrupting town council meetings and calling police on children. Experts say this strain of longevity, though widely documented, is little-understood and referred to in the field simply as the “never-the-ones-you-want” phenomenon.
Darfy says she hasn’t given up, and the community has been patient. “We thought Covid would take him,” she said of Hingerson, who went through the entire pandemic maskless. But calls are now growing for the man to at least get the ball rolling. “We think it’s fair to ask for a persistent cough at this point,” Darfy added.