105-YEAR-OLD ECLIPSE ADVENTURER EXCITED FOR HIS 13TH SOLAR ECLIPSE

What many would consider impossible has already been accomplished by a man by the name of Laverne Biser. Born less than ten years after the Titanic sank, the Fort Worth resident has lived to be over 100 years old. Throughout his 105 years of life, Biser has developed a habit that further distinguishes him: he has seen twelve solar eclipses and is getting ready to see his thirteenth on April 8, 2024, when the Great American Eclipse crosses over his native Texas.

When Biser packed his bags and headed to Maine in 1963, it was his first time seeing an eclipse. Since then, the centenarian's passion for eclipses has taken him throughout the world, including to other nations like Brazil and the continental United States. In addition to being an avid observer of solar eclipses, Biser also enjoys taking pictures of them. Among his best images is one he took in 1979 in Williston, South Dakota.

Biser claims that his love of the stars began in his astronomy class in high school. A former mechanical engineer, he also enjoys building handmade telescopes as a hobby related to stars. The biggest one in his shop is a massive beast that stands more than six feet tall. "I made the whole thing," Biser stated in a CBS News interview. I place a mirror on the ground. The process of grounding a telescope mirror can take hours or weeks.

The seasoned eclipse watcher offers the following guidance to anyone hoping to see the eclipse on April 8: make sure to stay for the whole thing, as there's no better moment than being able to remove your glasses at totality and see the eclipse up close.

On the other hand, you should always wear your glasses before and after the totality point. If not, you run the danger of serious eye damage.

I'm [nearly] 106 years old. Only one or two, every couple of years, are they here, Biser stated in the same CBS interview. I might have lost my vision. I might not witness another eclipse.