Aging to Perfection
Exploring the intersections of aging, justice, and narrative through scholarly inquiry and personal reflection.
Justice Wears Red Boots: Dorothy Van Soest's Until It's Over
Dorothy Van Soest is nearly 84, and she has things to say about sexual violence, Indigenous land rights, corrupt politicians, and what it finally means to be enough. Her fourth Sylvia Jensen mystery is the most personal — and the most satisfying — book she's written. Read the full post here.
Finally: A Grandparenting Book for the Rest of Us
Lurking behind every grandparent is the “perfect” grandparent: an outdated cultural icon who can make our lives miserable. In my case, the perfect grandma stabs me in the back when I falter or overstep her ridiculous notion of appropriate boundaries.
To escape her tyranny, I turned to books. After slogging through celebrity memoirs (way too self-congratulatory), I discovered Terri Apter's groundbreaking work. Where everyone else—including my perfect grandma—advises "zip your lip," Apter offers something radically different: understand the dynamics, then make conscious choices about how to engage.
Here's more on the book and my interview with Dr. Apter.
Insidious Ageism: Why are Old People Disappearing?
I didn’t take ageism seriously until I started to disappear. . .
Feel like a dried out husk?
Walking in the yard I noticed an oddly shaped twig.
“Breathe Deeply, Read Widely.”