“No one ever had it as good as I did then.”

– Warren Miller

Last month, my family and I were in Ketchum, Idaho, celebrating Charley French’s 100th birthday. Amid his many female admirers, his bright-red Audi SQ8, and the shadow of Bald Mountain (where he skied bumps well into his eighties), Charley was in his element. In fact, he had more spunk than most of the nearly 150 people who showed up to help this local legend ring in number 100.

And now, just weeks later, there is another reason to celebrate: Charley has received one of Idaho’s highest honors for innovation.

Marla, Marisa, Mike & Matthew Mulkey surrounding the “Most Interesting Man in the World”

When I first approached Charley at the party, he looked at me with a hint of unease. The conversation went something like this:

Charley (holding a salted margarita): “Mike, what’s that?” [pointing at the can in my hand]

Mike: “Diet Coke, Charley.”

Charley: “What!?” (looking as if I might spoil his party) …

Mike: “I can’t handle those margaritas anymore, Charley.”

Charley: “Neither can I. That’s why I’m drinking them!”

As Charley and I chatted in Ketchum’s Forest Service Park on a beautiful August afternoon, we fell into a fascinating conversation about a big day at Malibu after he and my dad, Jack Mulkey, returned from the war. Both had joined the Navy at just 17 years old, straight out of Santa Monica High School, following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Charley remembered standing on the sand at Malibu’s Surfrider Beach, watching Dad and Bob Simmons rouse the spectators as they rode the big sets rolling in.

Imagine that. More than three-quarters of a century later, Charley is still here to relive a day like that. I could almost feel Dad smiling as Charley described the scene as if it had happened yesterday. Many surf historians regard Simmons as one of the most influential figures in the evolution of the modern surfboard.

Charley French’s life has always been marked by a restlessness and curiosity far beyond the ordinary. As he puts it, “I like to tinker.” An engineer by profession, Charley helped pioneer the first dual-lens thermal ski goggle at Smith, helped develop Scott’s revolutionary lightweight single-buckle ski boot, and even bent into shape the aerodynamic handlebars Greg LeMond used in his historic eight-second victory in the 1989 Tour de France. Charley’s story of using a toilet seat to help invent a new generation of handlebars is well worth hearing.

Charley did not retire from Scott USA until he was 92. What!?

And then there is the athlete in Charley French. He set an age-group world record at the Ironman World Championship in Kona—a mark which stood for 15 years—won world titles in triathlon and masters cross-country skiing, rode France’s legendary Mont Ventoux at age 85, and completed 45 Boulder Mountain Tour Nordic ski races. Eventually, organizers had to create a new age category for him. As Charley admitted, “I still get nervous, even though I am the only one competing in my age group.”

And believe me, that is the short list (see Fountain of Inspiration).

When I talk with Charley, I’m often struck by how much it feels like talking with my dad. Their generation shared a distinctive way of looking at life—shaped by hardship, adventure, friendship, and, of course, World War II. In the years following, men like Charley became part of a remarkable moment in American culture, helping to shape the early worlds of surfing and skiing before either sport had become mainstream. Whether Charley was surfing alongside Bob Simmons, Pete Peterson, and Lorrin Harrison, or skiing in the Alps with Dick Barrymore and his film crew, he was there at the beginning, when these pursuits still belonged to a relatively small band of passionate adventurers. Warren Miller’s memoir, Freedom Found, captures much of that era, beginning with his early days at Mount Waterman in Los Angeles, where Charley and Dad spent weekends on ski patrol. Miller later summed up those years with a simple line: “No one ever had it as good as I did then.”

Bob Simmons was gone at 35. Dad made it to nearly 90. And Charley French is still going strong at 100. Amazing.

Charley French (left) and Dad lugging two Simmons concaves up from the beach at Palos Verdes circa 1949

Charley has just been named a 2026 Idaho Technology Council Hall of Fame Inductee—one of the highest honors for innovation in the state of Idaho. Past inductees include CEOs and business leaders from major companies across the state. For a man who has spent a lifetime tinkering, inventing, and refusing to slow down, the recognition feels especially well deserved.

Borrowing Tom Brokaw’s phrase, Charley represents the Greatest Generation society has ever produced. He came home from World War II with an appetite for life sharpened by what he had experienced, and that never seems to have left him. For those of us fortunate enough to know him, it has been contagious. At 100, Charley has not simply accumulated accomplishments; he has created a way of living others want to follow.

We still have a lot to learn from Charley French. I thank God he is still with us.

When asked the secret to reaching 100, Charley said, “Keep breathing.”