OLD, OLDER, OLDEST

The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging apparently is worried about the Baby Boomers now invading the ranks of Older Americans. It recently issued a report that states less than half of cities and counties can meet the needs of aging baby boomers. What the study fails to realize is that retirement has changed dramatically. It is no longer a time to veg and grow older and feebler. 

Today’s retirees have brought a new dynamism to seniority. They are determined to remain active and productive for the additional years of activity medical advances and longer longevity offer. Some plan new entrepreneurial businesses. Others want to continue working well beyond age 60 or 65. A handful still views retirement as a time for lazy days on the fairways or at the poker table. And a surprising number want to become authors. 

The Gallup Organization reports that 81 percent of mature adults have a book inside them dying to come out. Other survey point to a similar conclusion. Lots and lots of the folks we categorize as seniors are eager to write…some articles, some poetry and others a book. Many are eager to leave a memoir to their kids and future generations.  

I become more aware of this every time I speak to different groups on the writer’s life and related subjects. I constantly meet audience members who want to write, but are desperate for guidance. So impressive is this new breed of retiree (and many others who find themselves bored after several years of retirement) that I decided to write my new book The Writer Within You and target it to retirees.