use Text::Levenshtein;

my @strings = < Amelia Fred Barney Gilligan >;

for @strings {
    put "$_ is closest so far: { longest( 'Camelia', $_ ) }";
    }

sub longest ( Str:D $target, Str:D $string ) {
    state Int $closest-so-far = Inf;
    state Str:D $closest-string = '';

    if distance( $target, $string ) < $closest-so-far {
        $closest-so-far = $string.chars;
        $closest-string = $string;
        return True;
        }

    return False;
    }

state Num $closest-so-far = Inf;
    ...
        $closest-so-far = $string.chars.Num;