Aging/Eldering Bibliography

Here are a few of our favorite books:

Schachter-Shalomi, Zalman, and Ronald S. Miller, From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older (Warner Books, 1995)—A book that we draw great inspiration and wisdom from; the “bible” of conscious aging.

Friedan, Betty, The Fountain of Age (Simon and Schuster, 1993)—As in her other books, Betty Friedan cuts to the heart of things, with a clear, wise, prophetic and positive story of the truth of growing older in our culture.

Rowe, John and Robert Kahn, Successful Aging (Pantheon Books, 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.

Ram Dass, Still Here (Riverhead Books, 2000)—A wise and inspiring book from a person who has “been there” and is still here.

Byock, Ira, Dying Well: Peace and Possibilities at the End of Life (Riverhead, 1997)—A sensitively-written book that tells many stories of death and dying, both positive and negative, from the perspective of a hospice physician.  Keep tissues handy.

Leider, Richard and David Shapiro, Claiming Your Place at the Fire (Berrett-Koehler, 2004)—A small book with a big message.

Remen, Rachel Naomi, My Grandfather’s Blessings (Riverhead Books, 2000)—A heartwarming book of short stories containing much wisdom.  Also try Kitchen Table Wisdom.

Thomas, William, What are Old People For? How Elders Will Save the World (VanderWyk and Burnham, 2004)—Bill Thomas, MD, has written one of the best recent books on elders and their important place in society.

 Other Books on Aging and Eldering

Carter, Jimmy, The Virtues of Aging (The Ballentine Publishing Group, 1998)

Chinen, Allan B., In the Ever After: Fairy Tales and the Second Half of Life (Chiron Pubs, 1990)

Chopra, Deepak, Grow Younger, Live Longer  (Harmony Books, 2001)

Cohen, Gene, The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life (Avon Books, 2000)

Dychtwald, Ken, Tamara Erickson and Robert Morison, Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent (Harvard Business School Press, 2006)

Dychtwald, Ken, Age Power: How the 21^st Century Will Be Ruled by the New Old (Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1999)

Freedman, Marc, Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America (Public Affairs Books, 1999)

Hillman, James, The Force of Character and the Lasting Life (Ballantine Books, 1999)

Leder, Drew, Spiritual Passages (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1997)

Moody, Harry, The Five Stages of the Soul (Anchor Books, 1998)

Pipher, Mary, Another Country (Riverhead Books, 1999)

Ram Dass and Paul Gorman, How Can I Help? (Alfred A. Knopf, 1987)

Roszak, Theodore, America the Wise (Houghton Miflin, 1998)

Sheehy, Gail, New Passages: Mapping Your Life Across Time  (Random House, 1995)

Stone, Marika and Howard, Too Young To Retire: 101 Ways to Start the Rest of Your Life (Plume, 2002)

Trafford, Abigail, My Time: Making the Most of the Rest of Your Life (Basic Books, 2004)

Vaillant, George, Aging Well: Surprising Guideposts to a Happier Life (Little, Brown and Co., 2002)

Wei, Jeanne and Sue Levkoff, Aging Well (John Wiley & Sons, 2000)

Weil, Andrew, Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guild to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being, (Knopf, 2005)

Other Books on Death and Dying

Albom, Mitch, Tuesdays With Morrie (Doubleday, 1997)

Callanan, Maggie and Patricia Kelley, Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs and Communications of the Dying, (Bantam Books, 1995)

Kushner, Harold, When Bad Things Happen to Good People (Avon Books, 1983)

Kubler-Ross, Elizabeth, On Death and Dying (Scribner Classics, 1997)

Levine, Stephen, A Year to Live: How to Live This Year As If It Were Your Last (Bell Tower, 1997)

Levine, Stephen, Who Dies? An Investigation of Conscious Living and Conscious Dying (Anchor Books, 1982)

Nuland, Sherwin, How We Die (Alfred A. Knopf, 1993)

Rasberry, Salli, and Carole Rae Watanabe, The Art of Dying (Celestial Arts, 2001)

Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (Harper San Francisco, 1992)

Other Books and Resources on Cultural Issues of Interest to Elders

Diamond, Jared, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Penguin Books, 2005)

Korten, David, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (Berrett-Koehler, 2006) 

Ray, Paul, and Sherry Ruth Anderson, The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (Harmony Books, 2000)

Yes! Magazine—A Journal of Positive Futures (quarterly)

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Last modified: 01/19/08