Archive for February, 2009

Hello, Kenosha

Friday, February 27th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I'll soon be polluting the airwaves with semi-abandon--Wisconsin Public Radio this morning, and Studio 360 this weekend--so I thought I'd re-post some reviews of "How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They Are Still on This ...

How I Think Ralph Nader Will Spend His 75th Birthday Tomorrow

Thursday, February 26th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

-Removing the candles from his birthday cake with hypoallergenic tongs -Hoping that the selection process re the Obama family pet has been "responsible" -Arguing for cumin's inclusion as the third-party condiment -Elder-blogging -Wondering, "2012?"

How to Celebrate Your 100th

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I recently had a conversation with an acquaintance about how best to celebrate one's 100th birthday. A big question. My research has led me to a story that ran in London's Daily Mail two summers ago; the article opened, "An ...

Elderism #39

Saturday, February 21st, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Julian Barnes, in Nothing to Be Frightened Of: "Who can teach us to die? There are, by definition, no old pros around to talk--or walk--us through it."

L’s Bells

Friday, February 20th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I only just now found this lovely column by Oliver Burkeman about my book, "How to Live" yesterday, though it ran in the Guardian last weekend: my Google Alert has not been so, uh, alert of late. I'd like to tell ...

NPR’s “Books We Love”

Friday, February 20th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A vibrant and garlicky review of "How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People (While They are Still on this Earth)", from National Public Radio's "Books We Love" series, can be found here.

Elderism #38

Thursday, February 19th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

81 year-old Italian actor and comedian Oreste Lionello passed away today in a Rome hospital after a long illness. Lionello achieved his greatest fame as a dubber of voices in American movies shown in Italy. A career as a dubber is ...

Elderism #37

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Writer and professor Manfred Wolf, in his new collection of essays and aphorisms, Almost a Foreign Country: "Many conversations are non-consensual."

Old Jews Telling Jokes

Sunday, February 15th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

I'm usually not a fan of traditional jokes. No sooner have I been told about a priest walking into a bar or about an insect immured in a bowl of borscht than I feel slightly irritable and trapped, as if ...

Trouble Getting to the Gig

Saturday, February 14th, 2009 Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

En route to our mutual speaking engagment at the Los Angeles Public Library to discuss the peculiar charms of the elderly, Sandra Tsing Loh ran into some trouble. Namely, her eccentric, 88 year-old father, as you can read/hear here or ...