 In 1984, in celebration of his 80th birthday, the brewery which Greene's great-grandfather founded in 1799 made a special edition of its 'St.Edmunds' ale for him, with a special label in his honour.Commenting on turning 80, Greene said, "The big advantage...is that at 80 you are more likely these days to beat out encountering your end in a nuclear war", adding, "the other side of the problem is that I really don't want to survive myself [which] has nothing to do with nukes, but with the body hanging around while the mind departs."