Boca Knights
Steven M. FormanLots of baby boomers who can afford to are moving. From north to south, from cold to hot. Boomer Steven M. Forman has written a new novel about one of them, Boston detective Eddie Perlmutter, whose knees tell him to retire down to Boca Raton. But is it paradise of sunbathing and golf? Hardly. Here’s an excerpt from “

The Golden Ear Mouse
When we boomers say, “We’re different from our parents’ generation; we’re more active, more flexible, more youthful,” we mean it. But are our bodies always listening? Not necessarily, at least not yet. That’s why we’re fascinated by research we read about at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. Boomer Professor of Otolaryngology Bob Frisina leads a team that has created a “Golden Ear” mouse that says, “Squeak, Squeak – Can You Hear

AARP Tries to Take Boomer Lead
AARP has been around for 50 years, but it is only now showing Baby Boomers the weight of its influence. AARP tried and failed a decade ago. Now, the group is trying again. For most Baby Boomers, turning 50 years old and getting that membership invitation to join AARP was like getting a mean-spirited birthday card greeting — that AARP invitation must mean you were really getting over the hill. And, for most Baby Boomer joiners, membership has meant access to discounts to rent a car or hotel room or a cruise. But AARP’s mission as watchdog of public policies that affect its members meant it was at the forefr

The Case Against Retirement
Ah, retirement! Before the 1950s it was something only the wealthy could afford to do. Everyone else needed an income, and most folks struggled to get by in the industrial economy as their faculties deteriorated. Back in the days before 401[k)s — let alone Social Security — older people faced the kind of pressures portrayed by filmmaker D.W. Griffith in his melodramatic 1911 silent film What Shall We Do With Our Old? It’s a sad tale of the setbacks endured by an elderly couple, the wife ailing, the husband tossed off the assembly line to make way for a younger worker. The Age of Retirement was one of America’s most successful social reforms ever. But that e

Remembering a First Kiss
Have you ever found that what troubles you the most is not the mysteries of tomorrow, but the nagging “things done and left undone?” That’s what Eliot Smith felt when he turned fifty. And nothing nagged at him more than the recollection of his first real kiss. Here is an excerpt from Gary Carter’s new novel “ELIOT’S TALE