David Perlman still going strong

David Perlman watches a science experiment at the Exploratorium. Science and journalism have come a long way since Perlman picked up a fountain pen and began to write.  (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman interviews students at the Exploratorium. He was born in 1918, a decade before the discovery of penicillin. Pluto had yet to be discovered, let alone demoted.   (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman conducts an interview while on assignment at the Exploratorium in San Francisco. The ballpoint pen was invented the year Perlman got his first real newspaper gig, a 1938 summer job covering cops in upstate New York.  (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman scribbles in his notepad. He turned 94 in December, closing out a year in which he wrote 111 stories. Although only 0.2% of America’s full-time workers are 80 or older, he has no plans to slow down.   (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman laughs while on assignment at the Exploratorium. He’s about to turn in his outdated flip phone for a newer, smarter model. A Twitter lesson is in the offing. His driver’s license is up to date.  (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman at his desk at the San Francisco Chronicle. He credits his mother for a journalism career that has spanned nearly eight decades and included stints at the Bismarck Capital and the European edition of the New York Herald Tribune and 63 years at the Chronicle.   (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman works on a piece at the Chronicle. His mother, Sara Perlman, took her young son to see “The Front Page” -- probably the Broadway version, which premiered in 1928, but possibly the 1931 movie. Perlman the nonagenarian can’t remember which; Perlman the boy was smitten either way.  (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman at the computer, crafting yet another story. He now bears the title of “Chronicle science editor.” Prizes for science and medical writing named in his honor are awarded each year.   (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman checks his notes while writing a story. He’s written about the changing fields of astronomy, anthropology, archaeology and alternative energy. He’s done stories on microbes, meteors, mammoths, mad cow disease, the Milky Way, the missing link.   (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman considers something while composing a piece. There was no such thing as AIDS when he began covering science and medicine; he would go on to write more than 300 stories about the disease that broke his adopted city’s heart.  (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)

David Perlman takes a break at his desk. He has outlived colleagues he has written with, scientists he has written about, Anne, his wife of 61 years. “I’m so lucky still to be able to do something, to do what I do.... I’m still pretty OK,” he said. “Anyway, as long as they’ll have me [at the Chronicle], I’ll stick around.”   (Peter DaSilva / For The Times)