If I Live to Be 100 is based on One Hundred Years of Stories, a series of profiles of American centenarians, which Ellis produced and which aired in 2000 on NPR's Morning Edition. There are now more 100-year-olds alive than at any other time in history, and longevity studies are finding many of them are active, healthy and engaged with the world around them. Neenah Ellis set out to meet these people and to hear what insights, memories, wisdom and just plain common sense tips they have to offer. What she's found will surprise you. The original radio profiles will be intercut with Ellis's reading of her book. If I Live to be 100 is not simply a transcript of the radio series, but about how the experience of meeting and talking with these amazing centenarians affected the author.