Carrie Fisher, who died in 2016 at the age of 60, was a different kind of movie star. Her debut (and subsequent performances) as Princess Leia of the cinnamon bun coif and warrior moves in Star Wars established her as a pop icon at 20. Far from being a… Continue reading
In David Kessler’s latest book, Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief (Simon and Schuster), he writes: We want to find meaning. Loss can wound and paralyze. It can hang over us for years. But finding meaning in loss empowers us to find a path forw… Continue reading
Part of the Vitality Arts Special Report When you think of the milestones in life deserving of a celebration, do you think of retirement? As this rousing and congratulatory speech given by Twin Cities poet, teacher and dancer Mary Moore Easter reveals,… Continue reading
From the time I could first hold a pen, it was my dream to make a living from the written word. As a child, I was awed by the power of books and the worlds they opened. My career path, however, took a very different turn — until it didn’t. My early sch… Continue reading
You know the old expression, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” I sometimes feel that way about the high cost of health care. But Dr. Marty Makary, author of the new book about America’s health care system — The Pri… Continue reading
Julie (who prefers to use a pseudonym for this story), 54, wants to get her daughter through college without incurring any student loans for the $30,000 annual tuition. So, she helped fund her daughter’s freshman year by taking out a kind of second mor… Continue reading
“If you’re getting older — or preparing to get older — knowing what’s happened in the past is important,” says Gail Collins. What’s happened? Well, throughout history, society’s views on older females have varied widely, even among women themselves, an… Continue reading
When health professor Ann Garvin, 58, of Madison, Wis. challenged herself to write and publish her first novel, she never imagined that it would spark a burning desire to become a career novelist. But in 2009, after two years of carving out stolen mome… Continue reading
“I have given you everything — You don’t know what I gave up for you…Who else could you possibly have in your life?” Mother and daughter. Rita and Elissa. In her new book, Motherland: A Memoir of Love, Loathing and Longing, Elissa Altman, a James Beard… Continue reading
“Make yourself useful,” my dad used to say to me when I was seven, standing around, twisting my arms into skinny pretzels while he washed our family station wagon. The suds splashed around the blue plastic bucket, his strong forearms scrubbing the baby… Continue reading