The Sage-ing^® Guild

General Selections

• Albom, Mitch. Tuesdays With Morrie. Doubleday, New York NY, 1997.

• Arrien, Angles. The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom. Sounds True (Audio tapes), 2006.

  In every culture, in every age, there is a turning point in human life. At this threshold, when you see fewer days ahead than have already passed, you begin the greatest adventure: the second half of your life. In these tapes, Angeles Arrien retrieves the world's vital wisdom teachings that have opened people at mid-life to the deeper mysteries of who we really are, and why we are truly here.

• Berman, Phillip & Connie Goldman, eds. The Ageless Spirit: Reflections on living life to the fullest in our later years. Ballantine, NY, 1992.

  This book is a series of interviews with well known people who are living into the second half of life. They include Ossie Davis, Studs Terkel, Art Linkletter and Andrew Weil M.D.

• Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Crones Don't Whine. Conari Press, Boston MA, 2003.

  Bolen believes that women need to stand up for their rights, wants and desires and can't afford to be complainers or whiners. Explains Bolen, the author of The Millionth Circle and Goddesses in Older Women, "To be involved and engaged in life is a juicy proposition. Every juicy crone taps into a wellspring or a deep aquifer of meaning in her psyche."

• Bolen, Jean Shinoda. Goddesses in Older Women. HarperCollins, NY, 2001.

  Bolen addresses an older audience, urging women over 50 to search out positive archetypes or patterns of behavior that lie dormant in their inner selves that will help them realize their full potential. Bolen relies heavily on her earlier work, in which Greek goddesses personified aspects of the feminine psyche. For "crones" (women in the postmenopausal stage of their lives), Bolen posits four principal goddesses—Metis, Sophia, Hecate and Hestia—each of whom embodies practical intellectual, mystical, spiritual, intuitive or meditative aspects of wisdom.

• Brewi, Janice & Anne Brennan. Mid-Life: Psychological and Spiritual Perspectives. Crossroads, NY, 1982.

  In order to help you find sustenance in the hiatus between the first and second halves of life, Brewi and Brennan encourage you to recognize and journal the ongoing stories that form the structure of your life. They also offer ways to experience prayer and meditation as creative paths through the faith crisis of the mid-life years.

• Butler, Robert. The Longevity Revolution: Benefits and Challenges of Living a Long Life. Public Affairs, 2008.

  A pioneering, Pulitzer Prize-winning doctor reflects on the recent unprecedented leap in human life expectancy—and what we must do to take advantage of it.

• Chinen, Allan B. In the Ever After: Fairy Tales and Second Half of Life. Chiron, Wilmette IL, 1989.

  The author uses carefully chosen tales to demonstrate psychological theses in a helpful manner for modern people. This book addresses the latter half of life. It specifically addresses the problems of the aging populace which differ substantially from those of younger people.

• Cohen, Gene D. The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life. Avon, NY, 2001.

• Fischer, Kathleen. Winter Grace. Upper Room Books, Nashville TN, 1998.

  Winter Grace draws from the traditions of theology, literature and the social sciences to create a hopeful exploration of spirituality in the later years.

• Goldman, Connie. The Gifts of Caregiving: Stories of Hardship, Hope & Healing. Fairview Press, Minneapolis MN, 2002.

  The stories in The Gifts of Caregiving are from interviews which grew out of a PBS show entitled "The Rewards of Caregiving." Gifts is about quiet courage, love and hope. It highlights the alchemy of caregiving from which many emerge with compassion, insight, and wisdom.

• Hollis, James. Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life: How to Finally, Really Grow Up. Gotham, 2005.

• Jones, Terry. Elder: A Spiritual Alternative to Being Elderly. Elderhood Institute, 2006.

  The archetype of elder is considered with emphasis being placed on the expression of mentor, celebrant, wisdomkeeper and Earthkeeper. The author suggests that being elderly is connected all too often with our bias toward aging and being elder-like is worth considering.

• Leder, Drew. Spiritual Passages: Embracing Life's Sacred Journey. Jeremy P. Tarcher, Putnam, 1997.

• Leider, Richard and David Shapiro. Claiming Your Place at the Fire. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco CA, 2004.

• Levine, Stephen. A Year to Live: How to Live This Year As if it Were Your Last. Bell Tower. 1997.

  So imagine that you only have one year left to live. What would you do differently? For one year Stephen Levine consciously chose activities, relationships, and spiritual practices that reflected life's urgency rather than life's complacency.

• McFadden, Susan H, & Robert Atchley. Aging and the Meaning of Time. Springer, Prr, 2001.

  The authors, from diverse disciplines in gerontology, act as guides in the exploration of the realms of time in later life and its meanings. As the authors examine how the study of time can give new meanings to aging, they also consider the religious and spiritual questions raised when human beings consider the temporal boundaries of life.

• Millner, Nancy Bost. Creative Aging: Discovering the Unexpected Joys of Later Life Through Personality Type. Davies-Black, Palo Alto CA, 1997.

  Applying Jung's model of personality type and the tools of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator® assessment, psychologist and counselor Nancy Millner examines the impact personality differences have on our responses to aging. Millner offers as illustration the personal stories of more than 50 people who have passed through midlife and are now aging creatively in their 60s and 70s.

• Ram Dass. Still Here. Riverhead Books, 2000.

• Rowe, John and Robert Kahn. Successful Aging. Pantheon Books, NY, 1998.

  An excellent book focused on recent research on the aging process, covering physical and mental health and the importance of community and being active in creating optimum health, joy and longevity.

• Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman & Ron Miller. From Age-ing to Sage-ing. Warner Books, New York, 1996.

  The author introduces the concept of "eldering," or mentoring, each other in the years ahead. He contends that we are at the cutting edge of the next stage in our evolution and that elders will bring us into this more compassionate, intuitive, and caring era. In Part 1 of the book, Schachter-Shalomi recommends meditation, exercise, and spiritual healing to help individuals enter their later years, while in Part 2 he speaks to our limited perceptions of death.

• Sullivan, Betty Anne. Spiritual Elders: Women of Worth in the Third Millennium. Brockton Pubs, Houston TX, 1998.

  This book explores the question, "what roles will inspire you in your elder years?" It is a guide to designing the roles that will bring meaning to one's extended lifespan. Vital women, of all faith traditions, can use this book to raise their consciousness about the essence of their physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual beings.

• Suzuki, David and Peter Knudtson. Wisdom of the Elders. Bantam Books, New York, 1992.

  Suzuki, a professor of genetics at the University of British Columbia, and science writer Knudtson compare primitive, aboriginal modes of perceiving the natural world with "Western culture's ecologically destructive worldview." Chapters focused on humans' relationships with, for instance, animals, vegetation and the universe begin with brief summaries of scientific explanation and continue with relevant myths and accounts of daily rituals of such societies as the Chewong in Malaysia, Alaska's Inuit and the Kayapo of the Amazon.

• Thomas, William. What are Old People For? How Elders Will Save the World. VanderWyk & Burnham, Acton MA, 2007.

• Vaillant, George, MD. Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life From the Landmark Harvard Study of Adult Development. Little, Brown, NY, 2002.

Classics

• Bianchi, Eugene. Aging as a Spiritual Journey. Crossword, NY, 1982.

  The author draws from social sciences, the humanities and religion to establish one of the earliest frameworks for the spirituality of aging. The book is Christian with some excursions in Judaism and Eastern religions.

• Carter, Jimmy. The Virtues of Aging. The Ballentine Publishing Group, NY, 1998.

  Carter amiably insists in The Virtues of Aging that you don't need to be a former president to make a difference in your life and the lives of others. He urges older Americans to take charge of their lives—by staying active, whether it's through volunteerism or indulgence in personal recreation; by relying on oneself as much as possible; by getting involved with others; and by putting one's affairs in order with an honest self-awareness of the inevitability that even the richest, most rewarding life comes to a close.

• Chopra, Deepak. Ageless Body, Timeless Mind. Three Rivers Press, 1993.

  The message of his new book is that we are not victims of aging, sickness, and death. These are part of the scenery, not of the seer, who is immune to any form of change. This seer is the spirit, the expression of eternal being. "The basis for his belief," Chopra argues, "is quantum physics and the work of such scientists as Heisenberg, Bohr and Einstein, with whose help Chopra proposes to tell us how to stave off the inevitable changes brought on by mortality and the passing of years."

• Cohen, Gene D. The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging Brain. Basic Books, New York, 2005.

• Dychtwald, Ken and Joe Flower. Age Wave: The Challenges and Opportunities of an Aging America. Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1989.

  Dychtwald, a psychologist and gerontologist, has spent the past 20 years researching and speaking about the abilities and strengths of the elderly. With freelance writer Flowers, he focuses here on the aging of the baby boom generation, predicting an "age wave" that will change society and challenge its gerontophobic myths because of the quality of life the boomers have come to expect

• Erikson, Erik, Joan Erikson and Helen Kivnick. Vital Involvement in Old Age. Norton, 1986.

  Erikson's book on aging focuses on the need for the elderly to remain vitally involved in the present. In the first chapter Erikson outlines his now famous theory of the eight-stage life cycle. Chapter two consists of often repetitious reflections on the results of interviews with 29 octogenarians from the Berkeley, California area. The third chapter is a reworking of a previously published essay exploring the life history of the protagonist depicted in Bergman's film classic Wild Strawberries. The concluding chapter discusses some of the issues associated with old age in the United States.

• Friedan, Betty. The Fountain of Age. Simon and Schuster, NY, 1993.

  Friedan tackles the subject of aging with the same candor evident in her earlier critiques of women's roles (e.g., Feminine Mystique, 1963). She offers no quick fixes on how to grow old gracefully in a society that worships youth. Instead, she confronts the reality of aging. This proves to be less frightening and damaging than the denial and cosmetic fix-ups to prolong youth in a culture that places no value on age and provides no role for its elders.

• Gutmann, David. Reclaimed Powers. Northwestern U. Press, Evanston IL, 1994.

  The author draws on his anthropological and psychological research into older cultures to demonstrate a shift in late life to an assertion of aspects of being restricted in early life by the "parental emergency." This passage into "normal androgyny" is shown in his book by a review of three traditional societies.

• Hillman, James. The Force of Character and the Lasting Life. Ballantine Books, NY, 1999.

  This philosophy/psychology work on character and aging is not a self-help book but rather a self-perception book—philosophical, wise, and deep. "What does aging serve? What is its point?" asks James Hillman, and proceeds to examine those questions fully. The loss of short-term memory, for example, enables us to better recall the past and review our lives.

• Levinson, Daniel J. The Seasons of a Man's Life. Ballantine Books, NY, 1978.

  A major report from the team that discovered the patterns of adult development, this breakthrough study ranks in significance with the original works of Kinsey and Erikson, exploring and explaining the specific periods of personal development through which all human begins must pass—and which together form a common pattern underlying all human lives. Focus is on men.

• Raines, Robert. A Time to Live: Seven Tasks of Creative Aging. A Plume Book, New York, 1997.

  Raines, a former minister and retired director of a nondenominational retreat center, poignantly discusses the importance of facing certain issues as one moves forward into the elder years. Reflecting on his own experience, he presents seven tasks to resolve: facing mortality, embracing sorrow, savoring blessedness, reimagining work, nurturing intimacy, seeking forgiveness, and taking on the mystery. This last he describes as finding the key to new hopes and possibilities for our later years.

• Robinson, John. Death of a Hero, Birth of the Soul: Answering the Call of Midlife. Council Oak Books, Tulsa OK, 1995.

  The heroes journey from dependent child to responsible adult is a central theme in all the world's mythologies. At the same time, the equally compelling journey from youth to middle age has been largely ignored. John Robinson sets out to correct that oversight in Death of a Hero, Birth of the Soul, a study of the spiritual and psychological realities of male midlife. By blending psychological research, mythology, poetry, mysticism, and personal experiences, Dr. Robinson weaves a story that is uniquely personal and speaks to the heart of every individual excited about the possibilities of entering the second half of life.

• Roszak, Theodore. America the Wise. Houghton Mifflin, NY, 1998.

  Theodore Roszak speculates on the effects of such a demographic shift both on the nation's pocketbook and, more importantly, on its psyche. A long-time evangelist for the "baby boomers," Roszak basically argues in America the Wise that those born between 1946 and 1964 compose a great collective asset to the country, and their social value will only increase as its members move into their twilight years.

• Sheehy, Gail. New Passages: Mapping Your Life Across Time. Random House, 1995.

  In writing this sequel to Passages, Sheehy discovered a historic revolution in the adult life cycle. She writes that people are taking longer to grow up and much longer to die, thereby shifting all the stages of adulthood by up to ten years.

• Simmons, Leo. The Role of the Aged in Primitive Society. Archon Books, New Haven CT, 1945.

  This book is a report on the status and treatment of the aged within a worldwide selection of primitive societies. The chief question the author asks is, "What in old age are the possible adjustments to different environments, both physical and social, and what uniformities or general trends may be observed in such a broad cross-cultural analysis?"

Other Interesting Books

• Chopra, Deepak. Grow Younger, Live Longer. Harmony Books, 2001.
• Dychtwald, Ken. Age Power: How the 21st Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old. Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1999.
• Edgar, Robin. In My Mother's Kitchen: An Introduction to the Healing Power of Reminiscence. Tree House Enterprises, 2003.
• Flathouse, Pat, et al. Your Life, Your Story. Story Circle Network, 2001.
• Freed, Rachael. Women's Lives, Women's Legacies. Fairview Press, 2003.
• Freedman, Marc. Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America. Public Affairs Books, 1999.
• Goldberg, Elkhonon, Ph.D. The Wisdom Paradox: How Your Mind Can Grow Stronger as Your Brain Grows Older.
• Goldman, Connie and Richard Mahler. Secrets of Becoming a Late Bloomer. Hazelden, Minneapolis MN, 1995.
• Jones, Terry. The Elder Within: Source of Mature Masculinity. Bookpartners, Wilsonville OR, 2001.
• Kraybill, Donald B., Steven M. Nolt and Weaver Zercher. Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy. Wiley, Hoboken NJ.
• Muller, Wayne. Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest. Bantam, 1999.
• Myers, Albert and Christopher Anderson. Success Over Sixty. EDSA corner Ortigas Ave. Quezon City 1100, Philippines, 1984.
• Pipher, Mary. Another Country. Riverhead Books, NY, 1999.
• Remen, Rachel Naomi. My Grandfather's Blessings. Riverhead Books, NY, 2000.
• Rowe, John and Robert Kahn. Successful Aging. Pantheon Books, NY, 1998.
• Sewell, Marilyn, ed. Breaking Free: Women of Spirit at Midlife and Beyond. Beacon Press, NY, 2004.
• Silverstone, Barbara and Helen Kandel Hyman. Growing Old Together. Thorndyke Press, Waterville ME, 1992.
• Trafford, Abigail. My Time: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life. Basic Books, 2004.
• Wei, Jeanne and Sue Levkoff. Aging Well. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken NJ, 2000.

Note: The list above includes many of the books on elderhood related topics that have been found to be beneficial. Books on related subjects including forgiveness, mortality, mentoring, aging bias, storytelling and the like are too numerous to list here.