By the time I crawled into bed after seeing my first rock concert, it was nearly three in the morning, yet I found the energy to scribble in my beloved red diary. “FANTASTIC!!!!!!” I wrote in my loopy adolescent script. It stretched across an entire li… Continue reading
New York City winters are sometimes so unseasonably warm that one holiday week, tree sellers wore shorts while hot chocolate vendors lost their shirts. As I browsed the balsam and cedar potpourri then, absentmindedly humming along to “Jingle Bells,” I … Continue reading
I opened my email back in September from the Joyce Theater, Manhattan’s popular dance performance venue. The subject line read: “Special Volunteer Opportunity with Twyla Tharp Dance!” Whoa! I thought. I love the Joyce! I love dance! I love Twyla! I cou… Continue reading
In 2010, after a 29-year career as an editor and technical director at ABC News in Washington, D.C., Mike Kravinsky, 65, took a buyout offer and began making preparations for his second act. “At that point, I did exactly what you aren’t supposed to do … Continue reading
(Part of the VITALITY ARTS SPECIAL REPORT) Storytelling, improvisation, filmmaking and even singing opera — these are just a few examples of the creative pursuits that were on full display at a recent Vitality Arts event, sponsored by Aroha Philanthrop… Continue reading
Fate brought Dave Johnson and Bruce Grable together not once, but twice. And thanks to the PBS documentary series We’ll Meet Again, which features reunions between people who first crossed paths at critical moments in their lives, the second time gave … Continue reading
When friends asked Lisa Ruderman, 52, of Livingston, N.J., if she wanted to learn how to play canasta, at first, she declined. She wasn’t sure she had the spare time or any interest in the card game, which is a form of rummy. But with some minor prodd… Continue reading
The late musician and composer Frank Zappa got it right when he said, “So many books, so little time.” More than ever, many avid readers have transformed the solitary act of reading into an opportunity for socialization by joining book clubs. The New Y… Continue reading
Back in 2013, I blogged on Next Avenue about the excellent PBS FRONTLINE documentary, The Retirement Gamble, where correspondent Martin Smith reported on America’s troubling retirement savings crisis. He’s now back with a riveting sequel airing Tuesday… Continue reading
(Editor’s note: This story is part of a special report for The John A. Hartford Foundation.) At a time when health care costs are soaring and health providers are strained for time, arts-based innovations can offer excellent patient care at the end of … Continue reading