Deeper into the discussion of Design Your Age.
Join legendary Austin journalist, broadcaster, and communication strategist Neal Spelce. Neal honored me with an interview of Design Your Age. If you get a chance please see Neal Spelce featured in the documentary titled Tower Documentary on NETFLIX. It was in 1966 Neal put his life on the line to report the University of Texas Tower shooting. Neal’s career has moved from broadcaster to coaching Presidential candidates and CEO of corporations. His questions were not all soft balls. I appreciated this opportunity with Neal.

Legendary Austin journalist, broadcaster, and communication strategist Neal Spelce honored me with an interview of Design Your Age. If you get a chance see Neal Spelce featured on Netflix in the documentary titled Tower Documentary. It was in 1966 Neal put his life on the line to report the University of Texas Tower shooting. Neal’s career has moved from broadcaster to coaching Presidential candidates and CEO of corporations. His questions were not all soft balls. I appreciated this opportunity with Neal.

Love this man. He’s right there, in my own backyard of family, a Master of Age. Still brimming with improv jokes fueled by a bright sense of humor. Saw intense battle action in the South Pacific during World War 2 with his brother, my father Morris. This man is my Uncle Babe. Max M. Kamin, 94 years young.

He chided me on my upcoming wedding. “ Tuck, don’t spend a lot. Just make sure it all comes from your heart.”

When talking about faith Uncle Babe said, “Listen, God is in the leaves, trees and air. He’s not just in a synagogue or church. That’s what you need to know.”

What you can’t see as he stands here with his daughter Dana, my sweet cousin is Uncle Babe possesses a kid’s curiosity. A constant hunger for knowledge.“I was always a book reader. Loved books since I was a little kid”.

Also what you don’t know is that Uncle Babe lost his wife suddenly 2 weeks prior to this photograph. She went into the hospital and after 12 days was gone. Dawn Kamin at age 76 was a beautiful, fit woman who was active, even part of a bowling team. She feared doctors and with one fell swoop she got sick and was gone.

Part of Uncle Babe’s DNA material is made of cork. He pops up to the surface like a cork and doesn’t stay down long. But his wife Dawn took good care of him and made sure he was active and busy.

So many stories about how he and my Dad stuck it out during the depression in Houston. Went off to war in the Navy. Started their own furniture stores. The Kamin brothers with stores next to each other in Houston. And my father with Kamin Furniture in Victoria, Texas. My Dad lost his life to cigarettes at the age of 60. While I was growing up I saw the loving brotherhood and kinmanship they shared going fishing and just sitting staring out into the water of Rockport, Texas. They were an unbreakable pair.

“Your father was the toughest guy. One day we were on a street corner in Houston and two guys a bit drunk came up to us . And your father said “You get the hell out of here or I’m going to beat the hell out of you. Your Dad was always my protector” said Uncle Babe.

The stories I heard that day from our visit made me realize the challenges that he has overcome, not just from the war, but of raising four children, keeping a business afloat, losing his first wife to cancer. Fighting prostrate cancer. Remarkable man. Now the lost of his second wife. I hope to keep a closer eye on him and visit again soon. 

On my trip back to Austin Uncle Babe makes me think of all those wonderful older adults out there that are literally a treasure chest of stories. Stories to startle and amaze you. Lives of endurance, hope, tragedy overcome, incredible heart rich stories of life.

We’re on our way to Master this thing called age. Uncle Babe stands at turnstile with a welcoming wink to encourage us to keep moving forward.

An excerpt from my talk this morning at University of Texas for Austin UP Event (focusing on making Austin a more Age-Friendly City).

Dr. Marc Argonin of Miami Jewish Health Hospital is a trailblazing psychiatrist of Miami Jewish Health Hospital.
Author of The End of Old Age. Published by Da Capo lifelong books. It took me a while to find an individual such as
Dr. Argonin. He is a new breed of thought leaders in creating a positive future in how we see ourselves age.
Dr. Argonin is on the front lines every day helping to shift negative archaic, obsolete ideas on how we conduct ourselves as we age. Hey give a listen. It’s worth your time and your older sense will thank you later.

Here’s the link

Listen to it at one of these 3 …..https://anchor.fm/design-your-age . OR … On Apple ITunes Or Google Play Music

Meet the Swiss Army Knife of Age Scientists. Dr. Steven Austad.
In this premiere podcast Design Your Age invites you on an exploration to meet innovative, ground-breaking individuals in the field of aging. And you have a front row, first class seat to hear about stunning new ideas that will change the way we see ourselves as we get older. In this first episode discover one of the most prolific Age Research Scientist’s on the planet. Dr. Steven Austad has proved his mettle and received medals and awards for his work in aging. Director, UAB Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging. International recognition from Fondation IPSEN Longevity Prize. The Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction, American Federation for Aging Research, New York,The Robert W. Kleemeier Award for Outstanding Research, Gerontological Society of America. And many others. Dr. Austad has collaborated with Age scientists all around the globe. Dr. Austad is also a gifted communicator.

Dr. Austad brings a sharper edge to how we see aging. To support Dr. Austad’s work. BECAUSE HE’S DOING INCREDIBLE WORK !! Austad Healthy Aging Fund,” University of Alabama at Birmingham, Dept. of Biology, 1720 Second Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35294-1170. Listen in.

photo by colin carter

Start daydreaming now. Start dreaming of what would be cooler when you are older. We need a new architecture of belief. Because we are presently told to see ourselves as faulty, frail, the nearly dead. Well we ain’t f*^king dead yet. It’s time to create a new way to see things. And create new things in aging. Perhaps your own “Age Valuator”.
Discover a new worth in yourself. Imagine transferring the experience you have into a new currency. One that will economically lift your own sense of self and perhaps even bring you new streams of income. Yes possible. A “New Older” that more exciting that you can imagine.

But if you start dreaming….dreaming aging…you will find there is plenty of landscape for new ideas. Ways we can not only help ourselves but fuel our energy by helping others. Sssshhhhhh. You might want to keep it a secret from the “Age Police” who ask how many years old are you. Or those that say “Act your age, you can’t do that.”
Time to let those people go, they are only driven by their sense of fear of almost every thing.

Bring on new design in all realms. Transportation. Medicine. Community. Wake up there’s a world out there and you can participate and change it. There is a serious side to the positive aspects of aging. How do you start? Make of list of what you’d like to see for yourself to be …as older. Don’t be timid. Be bold. Remember the time in your life where you might have been fearless? I’m asking “How did you muster up the courage to do that?” Remember? You still got it in you. Share your dreams with others on this sight. I’ll credit you ! There is a new world to create. Believe it. Everything around you was once a idea. If you really look you see how older could be better. Starting here, I believe in you.

photography credits:deborah feingold photography AND Daily Mail U.K.

Tuck: “Could we have another take Christopher? I’d like you to just punch up the words “…is everything”.

Christopher : “Oh yes. I see what you are doing there Tuck.”

Truth was I didn’t know what the hell I was asking Christopher Plummer to do. I was in my mid-20’s directing the “Sound Of Music” Christopher Plummer ! Asking him to re-read the copy for a radio ad I had written for Japan Airlines. All of this under the intense gaze of my client and my creative director in a recording studio in New York.

Plummer knew that I was a young advertising copywriter being sized up and he was incredibly gracious to me. Each line. Every take he did was better and better. His agent had meticulously asked for a sum of roughly of $70,000 for Mr. Plummer to read 3 radio commercials. Plus a special limo. Plus special beverages to be available in the limo. Woo-Boy, I was going to be sweating during this recording.

Among the many great voices that sat down next to me during auditions included
James Earl Jones but no one had the lift and velvet hammer voice of Christopher Plummer.The slogan to be read for Japan Airlines was “To be prepared, is everything.” This was part of an advertising campaign I was working on and while I didn’t write the slogan I did write the commercials for which I was very proud.

Today Christopher Plummer is most certainly an “Age Hero” of mine. At the age of 88, Plummer recently leaped into a movie role replacing Kevin Spacey due to all the sexual misconduct allegations around him. Working with the director Ridley Scott, age 80, Plummer shot all his scenes in just nine days. He opted not to watch any of Spacey’s footage. With lightening speed he memorized his lines “Thank God for all my years of doing theatre. …I’m not pushing up the daisies just yet ” said Plummer. And then Director Ridley Scott did a reshoot on a massive scale that has never been attempted before. Plummer now nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance and Scott being celebrated for their extraordinary work on the movie “All The Money In The World.”

What drives Plummer is revealed when you hear him talk excitedly about his work. “I really wanted to find the humanity in this character of J. Paul Getty.” When I meet individuals in their 80’s and 90’s that still have a sense of purpose and usefulness it’s a beyond inspiring to witness. Individuals that are not movie stars just older adults that love what they do. They have become telfonesque about the hurtful ways people describe “useless old people”. Look closely, at that the lessons Christopher Plummer and Ridley Scott are teaching us at 88 and 80 years of age, about not stopping and continuing to grow. That is really worth all the money in the world. “

“Tuck I really have a hard time being with other women my age that complain about their aches and pains. That’s why I really like the company of younger people .”
Carolyn Kamin (My Mom at age 81)

On big white porch my thoughts were forever changed about so-called “Senior Living”. Not long ago after giving a talk about my book, Design Your Age at a titled “Senior Community” I sat afterwards with two wonderful ladies. As I got up to leave from the porch the two ladies begged me to come back and visit. I felt as though I was a liar, betraying them when I said I would return. I felt as if I was visiting an orphanage. An orphanage where no one has a chance of being adopted, much less re-visited. This event was the final straw and it changed my mind about these isolated so called “Senior Living” communities. But there is so much these existing communities can do to open their doors and move from restricted, isolated communities to becoming diverse age communities. And now older residential homes, apartments, facilities, and condos are sprouting up to be located in areas considered multigenerational. Hallelujah.

A Diverse Community Is Healthier.

Citing my interview with Professor James Kaufman from the University of Connecticut who’s authored multiple books on creativity, “Tuck the most creative, stimulating and productive communities throughout history were diverse in age, faith, sex, gender and race. Conservative, liberal, all matters of belief. New ideas that poured out of these communities changed the world.” Well that’s where I want to live.

Senior Living Comes Out To Play.

Recently I received an invitation to appear as talent in a photo shoot for a new community. I took them up on the offer because I was curious about their marketing and remarkably their building, which is smack dab in the middle of a community of all ages. Just out their front door is a park where young mothers and fathers with children play. Those same families live next door. Shops and many restaurants are steps away from this new building. Here is at least one step in the right direction of making older living better. Normalizing it.

Most active 80 and 90 year olds I have met detest the word “Senior” and what the word has become. Yes, it’s time to rebrand that name as well as throw it out in the trash with the words frail and elderly. Use the term “older individuals”, “elders” or coin a new phrase. Now’s the time for new language.

Compassion for existing older age facilities.

How cold and unkind is it of me to write negatively of communities that serve older adults? Obviously for many there is no choice but to go live in one of these communities. Yes some of these facilities invite and engage younger individuals on holidays to visit with their older residents. The children of older individuals, mostly boomers struggle to pay and make time for caregiving of their parents. This is a tremendous challenge and burden. And yes many of these facilities have extraordinary individuals providing care. A spouse may be experiencing early Alzheimer’s. So a move to a facility of this kind of care is lifesaving at times. But that same facility can create a space to invite and mentor younger individuals everyday. It’s time to get programs like that going. The younger people will discover the worth of older individuals. They will receive real world tools. Those who are older will feel a rise of self confidence. Open the doors and invite the outside world in.

Teasing Margaritas & Weed ?

A quiet rumbling is occurring. Boomers don’t want to move into these isolated age restricted communities. So variations like Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville have popped up. Just guessing here but once you sign up you get the comfort of your own Parrot shirt and a bottomless glass of Margaritas. Hey sounds like fun.
For those that like to follow concerts on tour like the Grateful Dead, imagine a new bus service to get “Dead Heads” from one concert to another. In those recreationally accepted states a continual small cloud of weed could permeate the bus. As well as a chance of yourself going up in smoke when it’s your time. Sort of like Willie Nelson’s song “Smoke me when I’m gone.”

It’s Obivious.

“Why can’t there be a housing development that I could share with other women and men my age? We’d have a large shared kitchen and responsibilities. We’d share the space. Maybe we could offer free rent to a medical care worker ? And it could all be in a village like concept with people of all ages.” Time and again after I give a talk people come up to me and ask about this housing and village idea. The reaction I get from 99% of most real estate developers is confusion. Instead of integrating a successfully designed older diverse community, it is dismissed. They can’t get past their version of a track homes community. I see it coming though. And it will catch these old fashioned developers by total surprise. Deep down in the basement laboratories of Design Your Age we’re working on such a community and will keep you posted.

Classic Beauties.

On that photo shoot for the older community, I was asked if I knew of any older women who could model. I told them no problem, I knew of some beautiful women they could photograph. These women I know are timelessly beautiful. The continually create their lives on the stronger side of older. They are constantly, physically active no matter their physical limitation. They fiercely work at seeing what’s hopeful in the moment. They have a gorgeous outlook and attitude. They stay busy. They are as the songwriter sung, “Forever Young”. The strong side of older lives within them. So yes it can be a place where you live, but it starts by constructing a special state of mind.