43 Comments
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Kimberly Diaz's avatar

What great and original responses! This one really hit me hard.

"The thing I find interesting about age and aging is that the first ten years of life (even less) are so much more impactful than the next fifty, sixty or seventy. The first act sets the story. The second and third are what happens in response to the first."

Such a simple obvious truth but I'd never thought of it that way and it explains so much...

Rona Maynard's avatar

“ I have found that things I look for are rarely as interesting as things that arrive unexpectedly.” Yes. I love the way this interview veers from funny (peeing as exercise) to profound and back again.

Sari Botton's avatar

Yes, he strikes a good balance.

Lisa Rogak's avatar

Sari, you should insert your comments into the questionnaires more often!

Holly Starley's avatar

I was thinking this too. The “back-and-forth-ness of it was a delight!

Carl Shubitowski's avatar

This 68, At 67 I was diagnosed with ALS. So it messed with my plans. Still doing the best I can but this was not in the cards at this stage of my life

Toni Tan's avatar

Gold.

"Is there a piece of advice you were given, that you live by? If so, what was it, and who offered it to you?"

"No, and if there was, I wouldn’t have listened."

Kimberly Diaz's avatar

So funny. I loved that too. I also can relate. Once I tried to sell my leftover advice on Ebay.

Toni Tan's avatar

Right? Me too. And -- viva eBay!

Kimberly Diaz's avatar

My moniker was Honey I Sold the Kids. I had a bit of fun selling or trying to sell some of my writing there....

Peter Moore's avatar

Ain’t that the progress of life? A bunch of f’ups, some counterbalancing successes, leading to a peaceful shoulder shrug at the whole confusing parade. Life is a tangled blessing.

David Roberts's avatar

I loved the "conversation" between Tommy and Sari. Tommy and I are about the same age and I was a huge Ali fan, too! I remember listening to the fights on the radio.

Sari Botton's avatar

I had to respond to his (playful) kvetching!

David Roberts's avatar

Each kvetch was a sign that the question landed!

Sari Botton's avatar

I think you’re right!

Holly Starley's avatar

Tommy! As per usual, I dig your flow. Yes to the unexpected and to allowing it to be exactly what you need.

Linda Roberta Hibbs's avatar

Baby Boomer generation. I was born during the Kennedy Administration. The Best is yet to be. I like this a lot. It is authentic. Thank you.

Ruth Pennebaker's avatar

What a wonderful interview and what a provocative, thoughtful guy. Laurels to all, including you, Sari.

amf's avatar

Lots of gems in this one...dig his authentic take on the formative years vs the rest.

Patty Tomsky's avatar

I love that he acknowledges regrets are mostly about ego. I’m taking that with me! Also, have a blast for your 60th, Sari! I just had mine and we went for it during a beach party/family reunion! 😍

Robin Bobbé's avatar

Tommy Swerdlow! Now that’s a blast from the past. We were in the same two year acting program in New York back in 1981. What a wild colorful group we were. Tommy was the youngest and I was the oldest. Oh, the stories I could tell.

The real magic for me happened after class when my friends and I would head over to a nearby gritty little Times Square bar called, Tin Pan Alley, our unofficial club house. I had a friend working in the kitchen alongside Kiki Smith while Nan Goldin tended bar. Tin Pan Alley later became the real life inspiration for the Hi Hat featured in the TV show, The Deuce.

Sari Botton's avatar

Oh, wow! What a rich NYC recollection.

Robin Bobbé's avatar

And how's this for a full circle plot twist? I now live in the landmarked Tin Pan Alley building on 28th Street which my husband found in the back of The Village Voice in 1975 for $60/month. The very same one we helped save from demolition when my landlord put the footprint up for sale at $44 million.

Paula Jacunski's avatar

I don’t know who, at the advanced age of 65, that I haven’t seen Cool Runnings yet, but thankfully I have time to remedy that.

Sari Botton's avatar

I plan to watch it, too!

A Girl Named Boo's avatar

It is a classic! My Millennial siblings and I adore it.

Lynda Rushing's avatar

Loved this interview/dialog with Sari! These honest ruminations lift the soul!

Polly Walker Blakemore's avatar

Grooving in a magical middle ground - thank you!