Gold: the Extraordinary Side of Aging Revealed Through Inspiring Conversations

What if growing old didn?t have to mean being obsolete or over the hill? What if, instead, it meant being classic, venerable and wise? What if it meant writing the novel you?ve always wanted to write, or painting, or singing, or teaching, or traveling to a place you?ve always dreamed of?

In ?gOld,? Harry J. Getzov introduces us to many of the extraordinary senior citizens he has interviewed from all walks of life as part of the Eldercation project he created to promote the concept of positive aging. Kitchen tables, living room and den sofas, front porches and offices?these are just some of the settings in which Getzov has visited with hundreds of older individuals. These special visits provide these people with an opportunity to talk freely about lessons learned and wisdom gained, and share their feelings about aging?demonstrating that life after 65 can, indeed, be passionate and beautiful.

?Time and time again, a visit with a senior gives me the chance to pause and, in a manner of speaking, take a vacation from myself. It also provides an opportunity to engage in something that, unfortunately, seems to be more and more elusive in these fast and sleek times: a conversation. Not a text. Not a Facebook message. Not an on-the-run cell-phone chat. I?m talking about an actual, old-fashioned, one-on-one, face-to-face, eye-to-eye conversation. There is something almost magical about these personal interactions that, in my humble opinion, their high-tech counterparts simply cannot duplicate. . . . Visits with older individuals present us with special opportunities to learn and expand our minds, opening portals to all kinds of fascinating worlds. Conversations take the form of mini motion pictures or documentaries, all of them narrated firsthand by individuals who have amassed a wealth of knowledge enriched by one precious ingredient?an ingredient not yet available in the same quantity to younger people: experience. Lots of experience." (Harry J. Getzov?Excerpt from ?gOld?).

A precious treasure lies hidden within our older population waiting to be revealed. ?gOld? opens the door to its revelation and suggests that it is time to change the way we think about aging and about our elder citizens.