Profile: Julian Myers

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JULIAN MYERS, 90

Principal, Julian Myers Public Relations

The best day of Julian Myers’ career was the morning he got Marilyn Monroe out of bed.

As a publicist at Fox in the late 1950s, Myers was assigned to escort the bombshell to an appearance for 3,000 soldiers on a ship in San Pedro. The event started at 10 a.m.

“Marilyn was always late because she was scared,” Myers said. “We were on the road heading south at 9:30 when we passed a gas station. She said, ‘Let’s stop, I want to go in the restroom for a few minutes.’ She spent 45 minutes in there because she was scared. But none of the soldiers seemed to mind the wait.”

Myers, now 90, runs his namesake PR agency from an apartment office in Marina del Rey. He plans to live to 120 without retirement. “I’m confident I’ll pick up clients till the end,” he said.

For now, Myers has one paying client, David Bowman, a former TV actor and now chief executive of TTG Consultants, a human resources enterprise that has contracts with the major Hollywood studios.

But Myers devotes much of his time to AmigoDay, a pet project that takes place the first Sunday of every month. It’s a communication network that promotes the idea of dedicating one day per month to forming new friendships, with the goal of making the world a better place. Myers issues press releases to promote the concept. But he refuses donations, hoping to eventually land a corporate sponsor for his program.

To maintain his health, Myers runs six days a week. He carries a cell phone in one hand and a radio in the other to keep in touch with the world. He holds the world record for the 3,000-meter run at the World Senior Games, and he’s just as svelte now or maybe even more so than when he attended USC 70 years ago.

“So far my abilities haven’t diminished materially,” he said. “But I don’t have the same spring in my step. I’m mildly concerned this will make me less effective as the years go on.”

For younger executives who want to know the secret of longevity, Myers has some advice:

“If you want to live to be 100 find a goal, preferably with social or civic value, and pursue it. You won’t have time for aches or pain because you’re thinking about your goal. Your health will come along to help you realize your goal.”