Iris Apfel: Geriatric Starlet
If you’re feeling anxious about getting older, take a few minutes to watch the documentary film “Iris.” Both the legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles—who directed “Iris” at age 87—and his subject, 93-year-old Iris Apfel—retired businesswoman, former interior designer...
Invisible Made Visible: Best and Worst Countries for Aging
A friend in California recently told me that she and her husband are moving to Mexico. My friend is in her sixties, her husband a bit older. While they have the means to grow old in comfort, they’re choosing to do so in a country ranked number thirty-three on the...
September is Healthy Aging Month – What’s Your Goal?
You know you’re a fitness nut when you choose an apartment based on how close it is to a jogging path. That’s how it went during my years in New York, when I managed to land rent-stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive (steps from Riverside Park), on West 11th Street...
Celebrate Labor Day: Push for Livable Wages & Paid Leave
Ah... Labor Day. The unofficial last weekend of the summer, when kids get a reprieve from August back-to-school blues, and adults squeeze in one last summer vacation. If they’re earning a livable wage. The US Department of Labor reminds us that this first Monday in...
The Wondrous Life of Oliver Sacks
The renowned neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks died of cancer yesterday at his home in New York City. The 82-year-old author of "Awakenings" and "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat" was in the late stages of cancer, a condition he revealed in February of this...
5 Gripping Films With Aging and Caregiving Themes
Looking to wind down the summer nights with a well-made film about a subject close to your heart? Here are five fabulous films to tuck into, with a loved one or all on your own. The menu is diverse: 1. Intouchables - true story of a quadriplegic aristocrat whose...
How to Prepare For The Silver Tsunami
By the year 2030, more than 20 percent of Americans will be 65 or older and a quarter of this demographic will have four or more chronic conditions and account for 80 percent of the rapidly growing Medicare budget ($583 billion in 2013). How are Americans preparing...
Celebrating Lily Tomlin on the Verge of 76
Lily Tomlin has gone from her unforgettable ‘60s-era Laugh-In characters Edith Ann and Ernestine to playing the mother of deaf children in Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975), which launched her forty-year-plus movie career, and winning a Tony Award (1986) for her...
Alzheimer’s Music Fest to Raise Funds for Caregivers
If you’re going to be anywhere near Duluth, Georgia on August 23rd be sure to stop by the Red Clay Music Foundry for the Alzheimer's Music Fest. The brainchild of Georgia musician Vince Zangaro, the Music Fest was created in 2014 to raise funds for families with...
Summer Fun With Senior Gadgets
After we sold our family home, my widowed mother moved into my divorced aunt’s townhouse. Both ladies agreed to the arrangement, but this was an experiment of sorts concocted by my cousin and me. We thought the octogenarian sisters would enjoy hanging out under the...