Women Over Fifty—It’s Time to Howl!
I know you feel it—it begins like a tiny rumble, and grows steadily into a full-fledged howl: “I’m me… I’m me… at last, I’m finally ME!!”
This is the feeling the authors of WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty term “realignment.” Mary Cunningham and Diana Black believe, rather than “reinventing” ourselves in midlife, women come back to who we truly are. We return to our unique identity apart from husbands, children, careers, and other roles we willingly adopted in our younger years. In celebration of this amazing revelation, their book is packed with free-spirited, fun and pawsitive thoughts on growing older.
WOOF is filled with humorous reflections on an entire range of issues we face as aging women. Everything from “The Hair of the Dog” to “Menopaws” to the “Woof It Down Senior Maintenance Diet” are covered. The authors freely impart their observations on the inevitable passage to the land of the long tooth, gleefully sharing their own bones to pick on the topic.
I was thrilled to interview both Diana and Mary on Feisty Side of Fifty Radio and am still rolling over with howls of laughter. Take a listen and I know you’ll be howling, too!
If you’re looking for the perfect book to while away the dog days of summer, I can’t think of a better choice than WOOF. Check out the trailer and you’ll see what I mean. Or better yet, throw your friends a bone and start your very own chapter of WOOF. You can find out more by reading the book and by visiting the WOOFers Club site.
Aside for writing for us old dogs (okay, that was just plain mean!) Mary and Diana each have written their own books aimed at children and teens. Check out the Cynthia’s Attic series and No Words for Wendel. They’ll make the perfect gifts for your grandchildren.
If you’re panting for your very own copy of WOOF right away, just click here. (It’s the third one down.)
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April 27th, 2009 at 4:46 am
Thanks, all you WOOFers, for your encouraging comments! Loved them all, but one hit me in particular from Cindy who said “it’s wonderful to finally be who we were meant to be.” You are so right! I struggled until I was over fifty trying to find my “place.” I was never going to be a career woman (that ship had sailed!) and was just about to give up when I starting writing memoirs and co-writing WOOF, which then led to writing a young reader series. It’s never too late to find yourself and realize your dreams.
Thanks, again, everyone! We’re all in this together.
Mary
http://www.woofersclub.blogspot.com
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Oh, Eileen, I’m back to say I just reread it, and the synchronicity of this message is unbelievable in its timing for me! I have been having one grand gestalt lately about changes I have to make in alignment with who I really am. I have been on a high ever since “getting it.” (Sometimes I’m actually doing something before I get its deeper significance!) Just flashed back on a 50-ish woman trying to explain this to me when I was twentysomething and still twitching to fit in and twisting myself up like a pretzel to make it so. It’s not “over the hill.” It’s, “Over–the Thrill!”
So glad you’re there for me, helping me figure out this grand experience of the fulfillment years.
http://www.hotflashbackscoolinsights.blogspot.com
http://www.radicalvirgo.blogspot.com
Http://www.joycemason.com
April 21st, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Thanks, Pam, for your comment! It’s always nice to know something we say actually makes sense!! Yeah, going back to our roots, as it where, is often a good place to start looking for answers when we’re questioning our current path…
Mary and I had a blast with Eileen, and are really enjoying reading everyone’s comments…
Diana
http://www.woofersclub.blogspot.com
http://www.basicblackblog.blogspot.com
http://www.booklandheights.blogspot.com
April 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Isn’t it wonderful to finally be able to be who you were meant to be? And it’s so much easier!!! Thanks for the book suggestion Eileen. I completely agree with the authors of Woof!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
That is right. I know it is true in my life. Now I have time to do some of the things I always wanted to do but couldn’t in the rush of raising kids.
April 20th, 2009 at 9:18 am
Hi Eileen,
I’d stick around longer but I’m off to go listen to the interview and then grab a copy of WOOF!
It looks like I’ve found the answer to “What would be a great summer read this year?” Your blog, interviews and brilliance are wonderful gifts for us, your Feisty friends:)
Erica
April 20th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Listened to the interview. Diana and Mary are great. I never looked at it from that point of view but they are right. I DO feel like I’m finally free to be myself. Thanks for sharing their wisdom and humour with the rest of us. I will definitely be adding this book to my reading pile.
April 19th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
I listened to the show. Mary and Diana hit the proverbial nail on the head with this one. I hadn’t thought of us from the perspective of returning to our original self, but this is exactly right! No matter how old we are, we are still that same little girl inside, filled with dreams, visions, passion, and fortitude. Eileen, you are a role model for all boomer divas!
April 19th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Sounds like a good book for a lazy Sunday afternoon of indulgence and self-improvement! I’ll have to watch that Pixel doesn’t steal it with all those dog references, lol!
April 19th, 2009 at 9:02 am
Sounds like a fun read. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m heading to Phoenix with 10 of my over fifty (actually 60) girlfriends. It’s our annual waiting to exhale, ya ya sisterhood weekend which has blossomed into a whole week. Most of us went to college together and reconnected at one friend’s 50th birthday. We’ve been celebrating each other’s birthdays and making our annual treck to Phoenix/Sedona every year. This book would be a fun late night discussion. I have also written a book with chapters about aging, etc. called “Nothin’ Like I Thought…A Baby Boomer’s Look in the Rear View Mirror”. It’s a fun read with the girlfriends too. Check it out…www.emersonstreetbooks.com. We’ll be “howling” in Arizona for the next 8 days!
April 18th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Sounds like a fun book – I agree, I now feel like I can be me and not worry about what others think.
April 18th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Woof! Love that title! Sounds like a great summer read Eileen, thanks for the recommend!
April 18th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Book reviews are great, so many books out there, no time to read them all. But hearing from others about a book, is what prompts me to read more. Thanks for sharing this gem. New one to me.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Thank you for the book recommendation. Can’t wait to read it.
April 17th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Eileen, you are becoming my best book referral service ever! My “boomer biblio!” I have already bought two new ones from your interviewees, and I’ve just got to have more of these WOOFer ladies! BTW, my Aunt Donna, who was young in the 1930-40s, used to call hunting men “goin’ out woofin’.” I just love that. As you can tell, she was one of my original models for feisty!
April 16th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Eileen you always bring us interesting and fun women and food for thought. I’ve got to buy this book for a bunch of my “girls” especially the dog loving ones. (I’m a cat person but I “get” the dog people and play well with them, sharing the sandbox with some trepidation but always purring)
You are a natch as interviewer and I’m glad to be in your circle so I don’t miss a single fabulous woman doing great things in our world.
April 16th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Thanks, Eileen, for being the Feisty Fifty Woman you are! And for giving us all a platform to be the WOOFers we were always meant to be. The interview was definitely a howl (especially when my second phone line started ringing and I couldn’t stop it!!)…Anyhoo, look forward to a long, long friendship and mutual connection with other Feisty Fifty Women who are itching to Wag More & Bark Less with WOOF!
Diana
http://www.woofersclub.blogspot.com
April 16th, 2009 at 6:00 am
Thanks, Eileen!! You are such a great interviewer, the time went by so fast!
Mary
http://www.marycunninghambooks.com
http://www.echelonpress.com
http://www.cynthiasattic.blogspot.com