BA50 TalkersThis is a fantastic article from the Wall Street Journal emailed to us from one of our readers about a new surge in books written about life after 50.
“As a new wave of women step into their mid-centuries and beyond, they’re looking to chart a course for the second part of their lives that looks different from the one their mothers knew. This spring and summer, books by women look at midlife as a time to start over, take risks and view themselves in the world as anything but invisible.
“I definitely think the cultural dialogue has opened up,” said Lauren Wein, executive editor at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . “A lot of people really need a template for this time period.”
“It’s a striking moment of exposure for women over 50, who are taking commanding roles across American culture. Melinda Gates, 54, hit best-seller lists this spring with her debut book “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World.” Michelle Obama, at 55, has been filling arenas for six months on her speaking tour for her blockbuster memoir, “Becoming.” Anchor Gayle King, 64, and CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, 67, are flexing their muscles in morning TV, and Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn A. Hewson, at 65, is a regular on magazine “most powerful” lists.”
“The New Rules of Middle Age, Written By Women,” a Wall Street Journal article spotlighting books about women forging new paths at midlife, prompted an outpouring of reader response—more than 4,900 comments on Facebook and many emails since publishing May 8.
Readers shared their own tales of reinvention: One moved thousands of miles to live near the crater of a Hawaiian volcano. Another began biking around North America in a route shaped like a giant peace sign. Others learned an instrument, started a business or discovered new confidence. Here is an edited sampling of their replies.