Dancing with the Muse in Old Age with Priscilla Long

Priscilla Long is a Seattle based writer of science, poetry, creative non-fiction, fiction and history and a longtime independent teacher of writing. Her awards include a National Magazine Award, ten of her essays have been honored as “notable” in various editions of the Best American Essays. She wrote a science column for The American Scholar online. Priscilla has an MFA from the University of Washington and grew up on a dairy farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, USA. Priscila's book, Dancing with the Muse in Old Age, is about thriving in old age. It reflects the new ways of looking at old age as a potentially dynamic, happy, and productictive time. Priscilla and I chat about ageism and creativity and her concept that old age is a time to begin creative work. We talk about "models" - people who in their later years were creative and productive. We consider the meaning of the word "retirement" and share our thoughts on whether that word should not be used any longer. We talk about the advantages and challenges to being an oder creator and her feeling about how we should shape a new sort of old age.