Roger Mills explained :
You mean Mary Fisher, aka "oldhenwife" - who always referred to her other
half as "spouse". Haven't seen her lately.

Bill is certainly not the oldest at 68 - I can give him 6 years - and I'm
sure there are lots older than me. As others have said, usenet probably
doesn't appeal to the younger generation.

Probably because it relies almost entirely on the written word.