I am an 83-year-old writer, speaker, and activist. My first solo book “Feisty: A Memoir in Little Pieces” was published in 2023.  My life has been a series of reinventions, from wife and mother to civil rights attorney, federal broadcasting executive, model/actress, show host, dog rescuer, elected official, book promoter, creator of oldwomenwhowrite.com, and aspiring TikTok influencer.

I live by these principles:

• Women will save this nation, and older women need to take up new roles as leaders teachers, and mentors.

• Every person should shake up his/her/their life at least every twenty years. Reinvent yourself. Become someone new and different. Contribute in a new and different way.

• It does no one any good to retire their bodies, spirits, or minds from creative activities. Retirement, when one goes from work to only leisure, is a distinctly American unhealthy habit. I have retired three or four times, but never for real. Live your life fully for all of your years.