Editor:

I feel comfortable in writing this because I will reach 90 in March 2017 and quickly add that I am not a gerontological wonder. In fact, I have two role models – one is Judge William Webster, a director of our 501(c)(3) company, the Center for Productive Longevity; Judge Webster is 92, formerly served as Director of the FBI and CIA at different times and since 2002 as Chairman of the Homeland Security Advisory Board. The other, Bruce Merrifield, was undersecretary of economic affairs in the U.S. Commerce Department during the Reagan Administration and, at 95, is having two knee replacements so that he can play tennis again. Both are actively engaged, busy people.

The reality is that 30 years were added to longevity from beginning to end of the 20th century. Research documents that people 50-plus who continue to be productively engaged report greater satisfaction with life, enjoy better health, and live more than four years longer than their counterparts who move to the sidelines (see, for example, the MacArthur Foundation Study on Aging in America).

CPL has created and trademarked an acronym for people 50-plus, many of whom have Experience, Expertise, Seasoned judgment, and Proven performance – DoubleESPTM. That is what many people 50-plus can provide. I like to tell people that I’m over the hill, then pause and add “…and what I’ve learned is that you pick up speed going down the other side.”

Another saying I like, particularly for readers 50-plus: “You don’t stop having fun when you grow older. You grow older when you stop having fun.”

CPL is holding a meeting on June 23 at the West View Recreation Center in Westminster titled The Phenomenal Aspects of Growing Older, starting at 5:30 pm and concluding following refreshments and socializing at 9:30 pm. One of the speakers, Air Force Col. John Stewart, Ret., will talk about how DoubleESPTM saved his life. A buffet supper will be served midway through the event, and the charge of $30 is intended to help cover costs. Please register at ctrpl.org at the earliest opportunity because attendance is limited to 75 people.

William Zinke

President, Center for Productive Longevity

Boulder