September 23, 2011

Aging Gracefully with Going Gray





This week's beauty is Anne Kreamer who is 55-years-old. Anne has been fortunate to do many wonderful things in her life from being part of the team that distributed and co-produced Sesame Street around the world, to launching Spy magazine, to be being a creative director for Nickelodeon and Nick at Nite where she created and launched Nickelodeon magazine.

Then at the turn of the century Anne switched careers and became a columnist for the business magazine Fast Company after which she created the monthly "American Treasures" column for Martha Stewart Living. In 2007 she published her first book Going Gray, What I Learned About Beauty, Sex, Work, Motherhood, Authenticity And Everything Else That Matters. Her lastest book, It's Always Personal, explores the new realities of emotion in the workplace.

Anne is also a mom and is married to novelist and host of public radio's Studio 360, Kurt Andersen.

I mentioned Going Gray in a post last March but it wasn't until reading Anne's book recently that I knew I had to contact her. Going Gray was one of those books for me that wasn't just enlightening and interesting but was delivered with such warmth and candidness that I didn't want to put it down, or have it come to an end. Going Gray is about going gray but it's even more about life, about aging, and mostly, about being authentic.



So it is with this that I bring you Anne's honest and to the point answers to a few questions about aging:

What is the best thing for you about growing older?

Anne: I'm gratified by many things. In no particular order of preference, here are a few of my favorites: hanging out with my adult kids, traveling with my husband, feeling liberated to be consistently who I am, and re-connecting with earlier passions like painting.

What image do you have of yourself as a much older woman?

Anne: Not much different from today except with totally white hair!

What do you wish that you had let go of long before you turned 50?

Anne: Chronic worry.

Gosh can I relate to that!
Thanks for being this week's beauty Anne.
I can't wait to see what you do next.
Louise

Photo by Lucy Andersen