With credentials bestowed upon her by her last birthday, Susan Goldfein is highly qualified to tarnish the golden years. And she does so with great wit and wisdom. Following on the heels of her first two award-winning books, How Old Am I in Dog Years and How to Complain When There’s Nothing to Complain About — humorous observations about life in general — her newest book, Laughing My Way Through the Third Stage, is a collection of hilarious essays that comments on her personal, but highly relatable, journey through the decades and focuses on “women of a certain age.”
We talked with Susan about her book, who it appeals to and where her comedy comes from.
Q: Why did you write this book?
A: I was inspired to create this book after I read a quote from the actress Diana Rigg: “The older you get, the funnier you find life. That’s the only way to go. If you get serious about yourself as you get old, you are pathetic.” When I started my blog over 10 years ago, the goal was to exercise my third-stage privilege of commenting on life with a bit of cynicism and satire. So it was inevitable that as I moved further along the aging spectrum, I would turn that irony upon myself, and have a bit a fun with the common, relatable indignities of aging.
Q: Tell us about the format you use to tell your stories.
A: My chosen method of commenting on life in the slow lane has been the personal essay. Since I mostly write for my blog, “Susan’s Unfiltered Wit,” which is read on a small screen, I try to keep my essays brief, usually no more than 800 words. More than enough to get my point across, I think.
Q: What is your advice for seniors — or readers in general — who take themselves too seriously? Do you find you ever take yourself too seriously?
A: Generally, I try not to give advice. But if pressed, I would point out all of the physical and emotional benefits of having a sense of humor — even in stressful situations. I’d probably wind up quoting Diana Rigg! As for myself, I think I used to take myself too seriously far more often than I do today. I think a major turning point was when AARP found me on my 50th birthday!
Q: You made a late-life transition from a clinician, teacher and consultant to a blogger, public speaker and author to “women of a certain age.” How and why did you do it?
A: Simple. I retired. Or was forced to.But that’s a story for another day. Having worked for most of my adult life, retirement was a vast, empty space that demanded to be filled. Quite by accident, I found a writing class, and discovered I had a knack for writing humorous essays. And from what better perspective to write than from a “woman of a certain age?” I think I originally did it to preserve my sanity. Now I do it because I love it and it’s great fun. And it leaves me less time to go shopping.
Q: What are your one or two favorite anecdotes in the book that will force readers to nod knowingly and give them a good chuckle?
A: I love skewering fashion. One that I very much enjoyed writing and seems to have really resonated with my female readers, and even one man who gets roped into shopping with his wife, is the one called “The Perfect Dress.” It deals with the challenges and complexities of finding the perfect summer dress when your reveal/conceal ratio has significantly shifted from when you were younger. Another inspiration came from a simple question posed by my husband: honey, where do we keep the garbage bags? This led to an essay entitled “If I Should Die Before You …” in which I include a list of need-to-know items to ease the transition of not having me around. Sounds morbid, but it is actually quite funny.
Q: This is your third book of this nature. Tell us about the other two.
A: How Old Am I in Dog Years provides thoughts about life from the far side of the hill. The second book, How to Complain When There’s Nothing to Complain About, is a Volume 2 of humorous essays, and complaints, about a variety of topics. While they do contain some essays about getting older, I also write about things like my Cool Whip addiction, my love affair with Olivia Benson of Law and Order SVU and coming out of the closet about being a Barry Manilow fan. This new book I have devoted entirely to the “golden” years.
Q: What writers and comics have inspired you?
A: Nora Ephron’s hilarious essays on becoming an “older” woman, Erma Bombeck who was the best at finding humor in domestic situations, and Andy Rooney, who loved to complain. I looked forward to listening to him at the end of the “60 Minutes” show airing his gripe of the week. He was a curmudgeon who kvetched with great humor. I didn’t know if a woman could be a curmudgeon, but I was certainly going to try. And then, there’s Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David, the kings of observational comedy. That’s what I aspire to. To be the Queen of said comedy. Or at least the Princess.
Q: What is your next project?
A: I’m going to continue posting new essays on my blog site, but perhaps cut back to once a month instead of twice. The reason for this is to have more time to work on something a bit more serious. I’m not sure the world needs another memoir, but there is a part of my life that I feel the need to explore and perhaps share. Right now I have a manila folder full of random thoughts and sentence fragments that I need to piece together while I can still remember where I put my glasses — at least most of the time.
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About Susan Goldfein:
Born and raised in New York City, Susan Goldfein currently splits her time between Florida and Connecticut. She lives with her husband, and the world’s cutest dog, Sam, a rough-coat Russell Terrier. Susan gives her audiences a sideways view of life on a range of relatable topics. Whether skewering marriage, growing older, fashion, the media, politics or money matters, her light touch keeps people laughing — and thinking.
