Here’s How to ‘Live Forever’

Marc Freedman, the president and CEO of Encore.org who coined the term “encore career” has just written a book, How to Live Forever: The Enduring Power of Connecting the Generations (Public Affairs/Hachette). Here, Encore.org talks with him about why, … Continue reading

Play Games for Better Health

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

Intergenerational Places Help Young and Old Thrive

  Each day, PreK and kindergarteners arrive for school in Jenks, Okla.  in classrooms deeply embedded in a skilled nursing home, Grace Living Center. Their two public school classrooms, along with a sunlit atrium and bright playground, are the hub of t… Continue reading

6 Benefits of Learning a Skill Later in Life

It could have been raising chickens, or playing piano or doing double-entry bookkeeping. The point is, learning something completely new while in my 50s — and sticking with it — was a revelation. In my case, it was carpentry. As a lifelong school and c… Continue reading

When Book Clubs Are a Social Event

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

What’s It Like to Be a Rock Star’s Mom?

Memoirs from musicians are fairly common, but how often do we hear from the mothers of famous rock stars? In her debut book, From Cradle to Stage, Virginia Hanlon Grohl (mother of Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl) opens up about her life as a rock mom … Continue reading

The Big World of Miniatures

For miniaturists Bradley Meinke, Joan McKenzie and Joan Warren, a love for collecting small treasures started when they were small children, and as they grew, their devotion to this pastime grew right along with them. Miniatures are definitely big. PBS… Continue reading

Talk Your Way to a Free Week in Europe

Get to know the locals in Europe during your visit? Fat chance. Most of us vacationing abroad can interact only with taxi drivers, waiters, shop assistants and hotel clerks — not much chance to form meaningful relationships there. But I’ve spent severa… Continue reading

50+ Filmmakers Capture Their Stories

(Part of the VITALITY ARTS SPECIAL REPORT) Behind the Lens: 50+ Filmmakers goes behind the scenes of the 55+Video Memoir Class at Film North in St. Paul, Minn. and tells the story of Joe Moses, a University of Minnesota professor, who produced a short … Continue reading

Next Avenue Readers Find Happiness and Connection in the Arts

“Because it makes me happy.” This was the top response to a question in a recent Next Avenue Vitality Arts survey on why our readers value participating in a favorite pursuit geared toward the arts. With the 10-question survey, posted in August on the … Continue reading