“Old people are like living libraries—and we as a culture really overlook that.”  —Author Henry Alford

The
richness of a full life often yields a thoughtful perspective, and this new book presents the wisdom from those who have lived to tell many
stories.

Salon offers a thoughtful, in-depth look at Henry Alford’s How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People.
 
Alford’s
subjects include people over 70 who are famous (Phyllis Diller, Edward
Albee, Harold Bloom), accomplished (“Granny D” Haddock, who at 89
walked across the country in support of campaign finance reform),
eccentric (a retired aerospace engineer who eats food out of the
garbage), and ordinary (a 75-year-old survivor of Hurricane Katrina).
He even interviews his 79-year-old mother and his stepfather, becoming
“the inadvertent catalyst to a dramatic change in their 31-year-long
union,” according to Alford’s Web site. Alford is a prize-winning humorist who has written for the New York Times, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair for over a decade.