The Best Is Yet to Come
But first, let's look back at some exciting moments from 2023. PLUS, an open thread: What have been your favorite pieces and regular Oldster features?
Readers,
My goodness, there are so many newcomers! Welcome!
As we wrap up 2023, I thought it might be nice to review some highlights from this year. I also invite those of you who’ve been around a while to weigh in:
What have been some of your favorite pieces published here? And/or, what are your favorite recurring features? The Questionnaires? The Essays? Link Roundups? “Bloggy Things” like Open Threads, where you all get to respond, in the comments? (Like this one right here!) Tell me…
Highlights…
Some of you arrived here thanks to this interview by
in Canada’s National Post this week, the latest big thrill:
Others of you are still coming here by way of another thrilling development: “The Puzzling Gap Between How Old You Are and How Old You Think You Are,” an article by Jennifer Senior in the April, 2023 issue of The Atlantic, in which the author quoted me and linked to the archive of Oldster Magazine Questionnaires.
However you got here, whether you just arrived or have been here for some time, I’m happy to have you. A wonderfully supportive community has sprung up around Oldster, and it is a most heartening development in these dark times.
This year has been filled with all kinds of excitement. This essay by
received notable mention in The Best American Essays 2023, edited by Vivan Gornick:
This essay by
was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by an editor there:
This essay by
was featured in ’s The Sunday Longread newsletter:
For the third year in a row, the magazine was chosen as a Featured Publication on Substack.
This year saw the launch of Notes On Another New Life, a series by
, Ask a Sober Oldster, a collaboration with , and an interview series with performers like Dar Williams conducted by former music industry executive and Modern Sounds Radio host Cliff Chenfeld (who also hips us to new music once a month by spotlighting selections from his Modern Sounds playlist on Spotify).In the coming year, there’ll be a collaboration with
’s , and a new occasional column by bestselling crime novelist and essayist , who published this wonderful essay here:
We’ve had so many great Oldster Magazine Questionnaires™ this year, by people old…
…and young…
and in between….
(Remember: Everyone who is alive and aging is considered an “Oldster.”)
I love the mix of notable and lesser-known voices in this magazine. In a recent post I shared a list of some of Oldster’s better-known contributors, with links to their contributions under their names. Since so many of you recently came on board, I’ll share that list again here, with some additions:
Elizabeth Gilbert, Neko Case, Hilma Wolitzer, Cheryl Strayed, Lucy Sante, Abigail Thomas, Joy Castro, Michael Imperioli, Deesha Philyaw, Laurie Stone, Celeste Lecesne, Elissa Altman, Jerry Saltz, Melanie Mayron, Catherine Texier, Kimberly Harrington, Beverly Donofrio, Michael Musto, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Stacy London, Kim France, Jennifer Romolini, Dante Stewart, Laura Lippman, A.J. Daulerio, Dani Shapiro, Michael Maren, Chloe Caldwell, Mari Naomi, Meredith Maran, Maggie Smith, Carolita Johnson, Ann Friedman, Dionne Ford, Martha Frankel, Mary Pipher, Michael A. Gonzales, Michelle Dowd, Elizabeth Crane…
Every now and then I’ve shared bits of my own story, which I’ll continue to do:
In the next year, I hope to grow Oldster Magazine in some new directions—more audio and video, some interviews with celebrated musicians and artists, in addition to more authors. A print anthology, although that’s still in the proposal stage, so it will be a while. I’m excited about all the possibilities.
It’s been an incredible year, and I have all of you to thank. I couldn’t do this without your support. Thank you for being here, for reading, for commenting, for sharing the pieces, buying gift subscriptions for family and friends. I’m so grateful. 🙏 🙏 🙏
Thank you, too, to all the incredible contributors and collaborators!
And I’m excited for 2024. As my pen pal Frank Sinatra sang, the best is yet to come…
Okay, one more time:
What have been some of your favorite pieces published here? And/or, what are your favorite recurring features? The Questionnaires? The Essays? Link Roundups? “Bloggy Things” like Open Threads, where you all get to respond, in the comments? (Like this one right here!) Tell me…
-Sari
I love reading about the average Joe and Jane rather than a “celebrity” or “personality.” Their stories and perspectives are more heroic to me as they are unknowns, living their lives, offering pearls.
I love everything you publish and write. Oldster is genius. I have quotes such as "I have no more fucks left to give" and someone reporting a bumpersticker "I love aging and dying" that I repeat to myself all the time. I like the essays you write about your own life, both current and from the past. You have such a wonderful writing style. I got to spend the morning reading the roundup, clicking and reading almost every link, as if I was reading a book. Thanks, as always, for what you do. You touch people's lives and inspire.