Toronto Star

I received a very nice email from Susan Pigg at the Toronto Star, which is apparently a very popular newspaper in Canada. A newspaper, by the way, is a way people used to read the news... I'm kidding, but no matter how many articles and mentions I might get on various blogs and websites, my boys Frank and Abe don't understand or appreciate it unless they physically see it in their hands-- "Ohh... an article in a newspaper!" Susan has promised me that she's mailing me the article from the paper so I can show it to the fellas. For the rest of you, I'll post it here:

Sage Advice from the Everyday Wise

It all started with Frank and Abe, two octogenarians who had lived life and had lots to say about it.

When Los Angeles writer and actor Seth Menachem met the good friends, now 89 and 90 respectively, walking around his neighbourhood, he was determined to immortalize their words of wisdom — okay, maybe more their kibitzing and complaining.

Since Menachem, 36, created Life Advice from Old People, his salute to seniors in June 2009, he’s asked more than 90 older folks for their life advice, including actor Jon Voight.

“Maybe it’s because my dad died when I was young and my grandparents are no longer around . . . I just thought they had some good advice and I wanted to preserve it.”

With the exception of “be one of the good guys” Voight, who he happened to spot dropping off a friend in the Fairfax district where Menachem lives with his wife and two-month-old baby, these are just everyday folks.

Some of them are newcomers to the country who don’t even speak English — their children do it for them.

But their words are simple and heartfelt. And their faces practically light up as they speak, once they get over the shock of being stopped by a complete stranger with a flip camera (a birthday gift from Menachem’s unsuspecting sister.)

Recently Menachem posted his favourite life advice so far, some of the best of it from neighbour Molly Pier, 89, who became an AIDS activist late in life after losing her son:

“You know, we don’t have much choice in many, many things that happen in our lives. The only thing we have choice over is our attitude and how we accept things that happen and how we cope with them.

“And that’s what you have to learn . . . coping with the hard things in life and loving and appreciating the good things that happen.”

Susan Pigg focuses on issues about aging and baby boomers. spigg@thestar.ca