ArcaMax

When I'm not working on my own writing projects -- or lost within the pages of a spellbinding bestseller -- I spend a lot of time helping other people write their memoirs. Since I live in South Florida, there are plenty of baby boomers (and even quite a few members of the greatest generation) who want to put the events of their lives in ...Read more

Twenty-seven years ago, the international bestselling book "Tuesdays With Morrie" was published, and since then, over 15 million copies have been sold. Millions more watched the ABC movie adaptation of the book, which starred Jack Lemmon as Morrie and Hank Azaria as author Mitch Albom. It's a short, sentimental book that honors the mutually ...Read more

In the last column, we discussed the surprising trend of increased drinking among older Americans, as well as the risks that accompany alcohol dependency. We all most likely know someone who has overused alcohol for a long time -- perhaps it's an uncle who always drinks too much at family dinners, or a sorority sister who can't get through the ...Read more

A study in the JAMA Psychiatry journal revealed a surprising health risk among older Americans. Researchers compared data from a national survey of about 40,000 conducted in 2001 and 2002, and again in 2012 and 2013. They found that "high-risk drinking" had increased for every age group, but the greatest increase was among older adults. The ...Read more

As many of you know, my much-loved husband, Tony, died a few years ago. Since there are almost 14 million widows in America today, I am well aware that whatever challenges I've had to deal with since his death are probably not all that unique. Unfortunately, I have felt blindsided by many of the issues that survivors must face after the death of...Read more

Poet Robert Browning once wrote, "Grow old along with me!/ The best is yet to be."

Today, I'd like to continue sharing with you my fondness for Dr. Sherwin B. Nuland's remarkable book "The Art of Aging: A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being." This gifted author (who died in 2014 at age 83) wrote the book when he was in his 70s, and used his ...Read more

For four decades, I was lucky enough to be a professional book critic. Sometimes my reviews would appear in The Wall Street Journal; sometimes they would show up in The Sunday Times; and frequently they would be in large American local newspapers -- from Los Angeles to Seattle to Dallas to Miami -- that regularly included "book pages" as part of...Read more

Most of us can fondly remember what it felt like to turn 50. And now that we've celebrated and survived additional landmark birthdays, it's easy to dismiss the anxiety and surprise that can accompany reaching a half-century of life. When I first picked up "Flip-Flops After 50: And Other Thoughts on Aging I Remembered to Write Down" by Cindy ...Read more

Here's a story to help you feel young at heart no matter how old you happen to be.

While paging through The New York Times a few years ago, an article by Vincent M. Mallozzi really impressed me. It was about an elderly man and woman who had fallen in love and decided to get married. You may find this hard to believe, but the bride was 98 years ...Read more

Some population experts have referred to the increasing numbers of aging baby boomers as the "silver tsunami." Longer life spans combined with an unusually large over-60 population segment could be seen as a major problem for both our economy and health care system. But this is not merely a problem here in the U.S. In fact, Japan appears to be ...Read more

Full disclosure: Even though I've been obsessed with health issues my entire life, I've never been interested in working in the medical field. Most of my classmates from my all-girls high school chose nursing as a career, but I was so freaked out by hospitals and illness that I was the only teenager in my class to actively boycott working as a ...Read more

Last week, we talked about Dan Buettner's research on the Blue Zones, the five places in the world where people are the healthiest and live the longest. It's important to remember that our genes dictate 10% of our longevity and lifestyle controls the rest. You may have already read Buettner's bestselling books "The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living...Read more