“OO EE, OO AH AH, TING TANG, WALLA WALLA BING BANG.” Ask any child or teen-ager of the ’50s what this phrase means and they will remember the summer of 1958, a summer most memorable because of its music, including “Witch Doctor” by David Seville and “Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley. Actually, Seville’s song […]
What if the baby boom generation—who were recipients of JFK’s fitness program in schools of the ‘50s and ‘60s—could once again return walking to an everyday practice for ordinary Americans—young and old? How could that happen? Well, I’m pretty sure we won’t do it by lecturing on the subject. Similarly, Kennedy’s words in Sports Illustrated […]
In December of 1960, while still the President-Elect, JFK wrote an article for Sports Illustrated called “The Soft American.” In it he bemoaned the fact that American young people lagged far behind their European counterparts in physical fitness. Kennedy believed the “softness” of the nation’s youth portended greater consequences than the obvious health one. “The […]
I posed the question in my last blog. I’m closer to 80 than to 70 now so what makes me think I can go on writing something people will actually read? Don’t those creative juices dry up when you get older? Maybe not. In 1932 Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote Little House in the Big Woods, […]
I said there were two problems selling the first version of my book. The first I wrote about in the last blog. The title and cover did not appeal to the right audience. The second was similar. The paperback price was not acceptable to potential readers. It was way too high priced (almost $30). And […]
We composition teachers talk a lot about audience. If one doesn’t know who his audience is—even if he writes a persuasive argument—he will fail. Why? Because the audience may not understand or, even worse, may not care. Which is what happened on my first attempt to publish this book. It was titled Walking through Retirement: […]
I originally wrote this as a retirement book. Now, I’ve decided it’s more of a work on aging and fitness. Last month I turned 77, and I’m still walking five miles most days in the week. When I have to be indoors, I’m on a spinner bike that helps build cardio endurance for longer walks. […]
Four days till Book Launching—In today’s blog I look at the benefits of walking and the research question that created this book. The advantages of walking (especially for those over 60) are well documented and include everything from heart and longevity benefits to increased mobility, better brain and emotional health and prevention of chronic diseases. […]
Hiked the Lighthouse trail in Palo Duro Canyon last week. At six miles out and back (five and one half if you, like me, skip the final ascent) it was my first long hike of the season. I consider the Lighthouse my home trail. It’s the one I do most often and the one I […]
Here’s the new cover. In addition to showing it to you, in this blog I want to tell you why I wrote the book. If you’ve followed my writing, you know walking has been a passion for some time. What you may not know is about three years ago I decided to research the subject. […]