I tend to read, watch, and listen to a lot of Oldster-adjacent content. Every other Friday I’ll pass some of it along to you in a link roundup like this one.
RIP Carl Weathers, an actor best known for playing Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa’s heavyweight opponent in the Rocky series of films, who died at 76 on February 1st. - In The Guardian, Ryan Gilbey reports. (I also loved him in Arrested Development.)
“David Bouley—the trailblazing chef who died of a heart attack on Monday at his home in Connecticut—has made my life complicated since 1988, ever since I ate lunch at Restaurant Bouley, his first solo venture, where he was making something old new again.” - in Esquire, Phyllis Grant remembers American and French chef David Bouley, who passed away earlier this month, at 70.
“First she was Eleanora Fagan, then Billie Holiday, then, finally, resplendently, Lady Day—transforming from fallible flesh to a performed self before rising to some realm of sheer myth.” - in Harper’s, Ian Penman writes about Billie Holiday, and Paul alexander’s new book about the singer, Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year.
“Too often, being cared for can mean feeling like a burden. But friends who care for one another flip that dynamic.” - in The Atlantic, Rhaina Cohen writes, “The Friends Who Are Caring for Each Other in Older Age.”
In the New York Times, Catherine Pearson writes “Over 60, Single and Never Happier.”
Related: “What all of this says to me is that there’s still too much age-bias in how we think and talk about romance and intimacy.” - In This Curious Life, Oldster contributor Delia Lloyd write about new data regarding the sex and dating habits of older people.
“In 1958, when Mary Pat Laffey Inman became a stewardess — as they were then called — for Northwest Airlines, she was 20 years old and the clock was already ticking…” - in the New York Times, Liza Weisstuch interviews revolutionary former flight attendant Mary Pat Laffey Inman, who fought against ridiculous standards and discrimination in the industry, and who is featured in the new PBS/American Experience documentary, Fly With Me.
“In my early forties, I was uneasy about aging. So I headed into the woods.” - in Outside Magazine, Megan Margulies writes “How Foraging Taught Me Middle-Aged Self-Acceptance.”
Exciting to see “Growing Pains: Entering a Second Life,” the latest installment of Oldster columnist
’s “Notes On Another New Life” series, featured in the latest National Book Critics Circle newsletter. Congrats, Laurie!“Lyn Slater, 70, was deemed the Accidental Icon by a college fashion student. She now has nearly one million followers on social media and is upending notions of aging.” - in the New York Times, Alix Strauss profiles my friend—and forthcoming Oldster Questionnaire-taker (March20th!) Lyn Slater, whose book, How to Be Old: Lessons in Living Boldly from the Accidental Icon, lands March 12th.
Speaking of
, she will be featured in “The New Old,” a panel I’m moderating Sunday, March 24th at 11am at Martha Frankel’s wonderful Woodstock Bookfest. Also featured: Melissa Giberson, author of Late Bloomer: Finding My Authentic Self at Midlife. What a lineup Martha’s pulled together for this edition of the festival! You should go…AND…I’ll be in conversation with Lyn Slater about her book at the Morton Library in Rhinecliff on Thursday, March 28th from 6:30 to 8pm, hosted by Oblong Books.
Oldster Magazine Questionnaire taker Susan Kiyo Ito, and her wonderful memoir, I Would Meet You Anywhere, are featured in Stella Fosse’s blog post, “3 Crones to Watch Out For.”
Next Wednesday, 2/28 at 8pm ET, I’ll be leading an online workshop called Five Things I’ve Learned About What Aging Means to Oldster. I’ll talk about what I’ve gleaned from all the contributors to this magazine, and we’ll do some writing exercises.
Next Thursday, 2/29, at 6pm ET I’ll be at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, in conversation with
about her historical novel, Mrs. Lowe-Porter, centered on Thomas Mann’s translator, a playwright and novelist in her own right. Salas wrote about it for Oldster Magazine.
That’s all I’ve got. (Actually, I’m lying—there are many other links I couldn’t fit in here. I’ll share some of them with you two Fridays from now…) Thanks as always for reading, and for your support. I couldn’t do this without you. Have a great weekend!
-Sari
Thank you for sharing these Sari. I'm curious how you manage information overload? Do you have set times a day for "reading"?
OMG great line-up of articles but hard for an oldster to read so many without having a medical event and need for resuscitation! Bring on the paddles to read them all.