At 100, Richard Perlman gets a gift of 100 rounds of golf

Palm Coast Observer
Opinion

Richard Perlman turned 100 on Halloween, and he recently had his driver’s license renewed through 2017. Just because he can.

He celebrated his century of life with more than 100 guests Nov. 1, at The Grand Club on Pine Lakes Parkway, where I was lucky enough to meet him and experience the smiles on the faces of the friends who have known him as a generous, shy, youthful golf enthusiast in Palm Coast for 39 years.

His daughter, Nancy Perlman, told me that Richard graduated high school at 16 years old, second in his class. He also graduated second in his class from the City University of New York, with Jonas Salk, developer of the first polio vaccine, as a classmate. Richard went on to have a career in the federal government before retiring.

“He has been here in Palm Coast for 39 years,” Nancy said. “He has been married to Helen for 66 years, and she served him homemade chocolate chip cookies every night for 66 years. That’s 48,180 cookies.”

According to his only granddaughter, Barrett Perlman, who is also an actress, stuntwoman and pro wakeboarder, Richard attributes his youthfulness to being married to Helen, who is 12 years his junior.

Nancy added that he taught Helen how to play golf. When she turned 60, Helen started to talk the sport more seriously, and since then, she has won 66 tournaments.

Dora Garcia, membership director at The Grand Club, said Richard has played at the Pine Lakes course since it opened.

“At 100, he still plays 9 holes every Friday, religiously,” she said. “Helen is still an active member. She plays 18 two or three time a week.”

As part of the celebration, Garcia said, the Golf Group was planning to give Perlman 100 free rounds of golf as a birthday present. To cap it off, Mayor Jon Netts also proclaimed November as Richard Perlman Month in Palm Coast.

Thanks for bringing the community together for an evening. And happy 100th, Mr. Perlman!