OUR BEST YEARS

by Helen with Marion Glasserow Gladney Hayes ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 20, 1984

Nearly 150 of the two-minute (roughly one-page) syndicated radio talks that Hayes--the liveliest of gray-panther-ish octogenarians--has been broadcasting in recent years: most of them relate to the lives of ""maturians"" (Hayes' preferred word for older people), though the authors hope to reach a younger audience as well. (""We want to beat this small drum to wake up the young to face the inescapable fact of their own very, very long lives."") There's practical advice here: a recommendation for a book on heart surgery; advice on estate planning (get your property appraised!); how to ""vacation-proof your home,"" to avoid scams, deal with jet lag. There are no-nonsense sermonettes on citizenship, the right way to view retirement (Hayes calls it ""recreatement""), sex after 60: ""Do we act like a dirty old man or, worse, a dirty old woman, if we want love--and sex? I abhor those labels. What's respectable for the young is not decadence in the old."" And, after all the words of encouragement and suggestions for self-improvement in later years, there are tributes to a few dozen senior citizens--from ""honest, kind"" Robert Mitchum at 67 to 65-year-old Alan Jay Lerner (""Encore, Alan!""), to that recently wed nonagenarian George Abbott. (""What's your next project, George?"") Better-suited to the airwaves than the page, perhaps, but a varied, upbeat, not too saccharine collection of supportive mini-essays: a pleasant browser for ""maturians"" indeed, if unlikely to get even a glance from those younger readers Hayes is after.

Pub Date: July 20, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1984

Categories: NONFICTION