Blog Posts - successful aging

April 12, 2017 By Pepper Evans
I love to feel connected and informed—both, keys to successful aging. I no longer get a newspaper and don’t watch much television. I live between New York City and Philadelphia, where there’s no shortage of media outlets, but I get virtually all of my news from the radio. I know—old school. The radio is on in my kitchen, home office and car, not for music but to stay on top of what’s happening in the world and for infotainment. I’m sort of an NPR junkie. The hosts’ voices are as familiar to me as my family’s. Read more...

How to Have a Good Life: Lean In—to Your Relationships

September 09, 2016 By Flora Davis
I was stuck for a time when I was in my 20s. My career and dating possibilities were going nowhere, and I struggled with depression. I was far from home, but one day I talked to my father about all of this over the phone. Afterward, he sent me a long, thoughtful letter. He was then in his early 50s, and he wrote that, looking back over his own life, he was convinced that the most important thing for him had always been his relationships with family and friends. Read more...

The Birthday Party

April 08, 2016 By Bob Bostock
Recently my wife and I traveled to northern Virginia to help her Aunt Margie celebrate her 90th birthday. The luncheon party, arranged by the birthday celebrant herself, included 11 guests, all of whom (with the exception of my wife and me) were in their late 70s or 80s. As we sat around the table, I mentally added up the number of years represented by all the guests. There had to be at least 750 years of combined life among this group. That’s a lot of living and a lot of experience. And everyone was still very much “with it,” both mentally and physically. Read more...

Bill Traylor, People’s Artist

March 11, 2016 By Victoria Robinson
I knew very little about Bill Traylor before I walked into the American Folk Art Museum in New York City to see an exhibition of his work. I knew he was a self-taught artist from the South—but that’s all I knew. When I learned from the gallery text that he didn’t start making art until he was in his mid-80s, I was awestruck. Embarking on anything in one’s 80s is rare. Ending up in a museum is radical. Read more...

Midlife Malaise and the Happiness U-Curve

March 11, 2015 By Ashton Applewhite
An Atlantic magazine cover story last October described living past 75 as pretty darn inadvisable. Then, in quite the about-face, the December cover story championed the Happiness U-Curve and the growing body of research showing that we reliably grow happier, almost regardless of circumstances, after our 40s. Read more...

‘Successful’ Aging?

January 14, 2015 By Margaret Cruikshank
In the 1991 book Successful Aging, by John W. Rowe, MD, and Robert L. Kahn, PhD, “successful” seems to mean healthy aging. The authors have three criteria: 1) freedom from disease and disability; 2) a high level of cognitive and physical functioning; and 3) social engagement. Perhaps “healthy aging” sounded too bland for the title of a book on aging. It would have been more accurate, though. Read more...

The Zen of Tony, Spanning Generations

August 25, 2014 By Pepper Evans
I heard a voice from my past when I stumbled upon an interview on National Public Radio (NPR) with the legendary singer Tony Bennett. It triggered many happy memories. I would know that voice anywhere—singing or telling a story—and it always makes me nostalgic. Bennett was a constant in my house growing up, as well as music from others of his generation, like Sinatra, Goulet and Como, to name but a few. My parents had a respectable collection of LPs under the turntable. This was the background music of my young life, and it stuck with me even as my tastes changed over the years. Read more...

Emily, You Remind Me of Someone

September 16, 2013 By Pepper Evans
Sometimes fiction is so spot-on believable, I am convinced the author must have walked in the shoes of a particular character. I recently read Emily, Alone, by Stewart O'Nan (2011) and have come to believe that he was once an 80-year-old widow. Read more...

Blogs by Author

Alix Kates Shulman

Ashton Applewhite

Bob Bostock

Flora Davis

Liz Seegert

Maggie Sullivan

Margaret Cruikshank

Margaret Morganroth Gullette

Megan Kearns

Pepper Evans

Pete Croatto

Victoria Robinson

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2013
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2012
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Our Mission

The Silver Century Foundation promotes a positive view of aging. The Foundation challenges entrenched and harmful stereotypes, encourages dialogue between generations, advocates planning for the second half of life, and raises awareness to educate and inspire everyone to live long, healthy, empowered lives.

"It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment; in these qualities old age is usually not poorer, but is even richer."

Cicero (106-43 BC)

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