Letter from the Editor #39

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Readers,

At the end of August, Oldster will celebrate its 5th birthday. That means I have now been “Exploring what it means to travel through time in a human body” here for going on FIVE YEARS. I can’t believe it.

I’ll celebrate with another evening of piano karaoke at Sid Gold’s Request Room on Thursday, September 10th. Once again there will be a few featured singers-slash-storytellers, after which attendees can take turns at the mic, accompanied by my friend, Sid Gold’s pianist extraordinaire Paul Leschen.

I’ve got another great lineup of featured singers-slash-storytellers: , , @Rakesh Satyal, , , and. If the first of these events in June—a big hit!—is any indication, this is going to be great fun.

Meanwhile, as many of you already know, Oldster runs on paid subscriptions, and I’d love it if some more free subscribers would upgrade. Oldster pays essayists and interviewers, and—at least for now—no content is ever kept behind a paywall. Paid subscribers make that possible, and I appreciate it. 🙏

Check out the rest of this series here.

“Thank you for Oldster. I think it's important to combat ageism by highlighting news and opinions by, about, and for older people. I'm happy to pay you for your great work!" - Morgan Elle, paid subscriber.

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A chat about the new end-of-life planning tools from “Hello, Mortal” with founder Maura McInerny-Rowley...

I’m a fan of the newsletter , and recently its founder, , reached out to tell me about some useful end-of-life planning tools on offer.

McInenerney-Rowley began contemplating death and dying at a young age. When she was 5, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and when she was 20, her mother died. The experience made her realize there wasn’t enough open discussion about the end of life and how to prepare for it—not for her mother, and not in our culture, more broadly. As she writes in the newsletter’s About page:

I created this platform to offer what she didn't have: a place to boldly explore what it means to live well in the face of impermanence—and to create a modern, values-based approach to preparing for the inevitable. My goal is to empower you to contemplate your mortality, enable you to plan for it with clarity and love, and encourage you to share it, so the people you love aren't left in crisis when you die.

That led her to create Hello, Mortal, which has lots of great articles and essays about various aspects of death, dying, and aging. And now it also offers tools to help us make plans.

For instance, the new Final Body Disposition Quiz is a free survey that helps you decide what matters to you with regard to disposing of your corpse. Or, as I put it in The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire: What are your plans for your body when you’re done using it? It takes about three minutes to respond to, and asks thoughtful questions about what’s important to you spiritually, ecologically, in terms of your family and their traditions, and more.

I enjoyed thinking about this as I filled out my answers. When I was done, I was offered three options “that align with your values”: green burial, human composting, and water cremation.

At the bottom of my results was a link to another of Hello, Mortal’s end-of-life planning tools, the Death Dossier, where for $99, you can declare what you want to happen to your body after death.

There’s yet another Hello, Mortal survey you can take, Death Archetypes, which helps you to more broadly think about death and your philosophical approach to it. I enjoyed taking that one, too

Our conversation was interesting and brief, and you can watch it right here. ⬇️

Where we’re finding joy this summer...

And now for some things that make us glad to be alive.

Summer is my favorite season—although it can be difficult to enjoy it when it’s apocalyptically hot out, the sky is orange and the air smells of smoke from Canadian wildfires, and the world is basically a complete dumpster fire.

Despite all the horrors—or maybe in spite of them—I am doing my best eke out as much enjoyment as I can before I blink and summer’s over, and everything reeks of pumpkin spice.

Fortunately for me, there’s been a new local development helping me out on that front. A couple of weeks ago, New York State opened Lake Sophia, a public swimming facility in a former quarry, right here in Kingston, where I live.

It’s located inside Sojourner Truth State Park, and named for Truth’s daughter, Sophia. It’s beautiful, and big, and free—although it costs $8 to park, unless you have the Empire Pass, which is $80/year and can be used at many state parks throughout New York.

Brian and I have been going to Lake Sophia for half-hour dips, typically toward the end of the day, and it’s been a great source of joy, and refreshment.

What has been giving you joy this summer?