A CHANGE IN THE WIND

In Those Rich Years (1969) the dauntless duo of upper-middle retirement wisdom told the story of their adjustment after the rat race; here the Herseys not only experience more change, but welcome it. This is essentially a journal of their move from a Connecticut semi-rural haven to balmy North Carolina: the difficulties in making the initial decision; the mechanics of removal and settling in; temporary disaster in the form of a fire; rebuilding and the larger pleasures of new beginnings. Snowstormy evenings by the fire in New England are exchanged for mosquito-less twilights overlooking a tailor-made, lush garden. It is tempting to fault the Herseys for some insensitivity to the needs of retirees less comfortably fixed; for failing to include specific financial details (always of consuming interest); for a peculiar insularity of outlook concerning race relations, e.g., mentioning the white's ""rational approach to life,"" and the black's ""traditional intuitive (sic) freedom of emotional expression""; and the relentless sunshine. But many are eager to let any sunshine in, and like the Herseys, you too can be as smug as a bug in a rug.