Over 60 Women Make the News: You go, Girl!

Want to rob someone? Don't pick 71-year-old Dawn Fraser as your target! That's the message she gave to a teenager who tried to attack her at her home in Australia.

Dawn is a 4-gold-medal winner and a winner of 8 medals for Australia between 1956 and 1964. She grabbed the attacker's ear, kicked him in the groin, and then grabbed both ear and hair. The attacker found an over-60-woman who could give better than he had planned her to get.

You can read the entire account published by Associated Press by accessing Yahoo Sports.

Congratulations, Dawn. You're an inspiration to all of us!

Why Travel?? For Relaxation and Unexpected Rewards!

So where has this area been all my life? Our family just returned from a week in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. Such a beautiful place!

Traveling north to Corolla Lighthouse provided a totally different landscape, greener with lush trees and more ground cover, but-too bad-not many restaurants. Restaurants are a must in my travel plans. Many vacationing families enjoy cooking family meals together. I might like that if I ever try it, but for now good restaurants are in my everyday itinerary.

The Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills is very impressive, and going south, the Cape Hattaras Lighthouse is worth the trip. Again, this landscape is distinct-more dunes, less greenery, the long, water-spanning bridge-all worth the trip.

Several of my friends have been to the Outer Banks or to other great places from Maine to Florida on the Eastern Shore. I'd love to hear about other locations, now that I've finally found that an East Coast vacation is a great adventure.

Our Health

Talk about 'finally'! Here's another 'finally'. In the September issue of HEALTH, Laurie Tarkan reveals "Secrets of Women with Healthy Hearts" AND she includes a 70-year-old retired registered nurse among the profiles of the 30 and 40- something women.

Barbara Lesperance, grandmother and retiree says, "I think I'm healthier now than I've ever been." She credits strength-training, golf, walking with her husband, and her choice of foods.

Each profile includes age, weight, BMI, cholesterol levels and general health as well as an analysis by Dr. Nieca Goldberg, Director, NYU Women's Heart Program.

Interesting stuff and on target with our needs. Thanks to Laurie Tarkan for including an 'over 60 woman' in her very interesting article. She gives us all a model to look up to and to try to match.

The same issue also addresses bladder pain. Since we were discussing UTI's earlier this summer, you might want to check this out. What we said about cranberry juice being a great preventative before an infection has a chance to develop is repeated here as well as the bad part: drinking it during the UTI just makes the problem worse!

Tarkan hasn't forgotten the invisible 'Over 60 Women'. Thanks!

Finally Time to Read: A novel for you, all adults, and late teens

TESTIMONY byAnita Shreve has been recommended for all of us plus any of those late teens we know and love.

The novel is written from the viewpoint of the people involved in a teen ( she is 14) /young adult ( 2 boys are 18; one is 19) sexual encounter at a private school which is taped and put online.

Another book club attended by our "over 60 women" just finished the book. As related to us, "We discussed the book at length. All club members are 60+ women, and only one does not have children. Several of us are retired public school educators. Where to place responsibility for the ruined lives in this book resulted in quite a bit of debate. If it were not for the explicit sex, this is a book I think all teens should read. So should adults. We all need to be reminded that our actions have ripple effects. "

I'm going to read it next and hope you do, too.

Thanks.

Talking about Books: Book Club Info.

For those of us in the NW PA area, the Edinboro University Book Club has announced its September, 2009, meeting and the book choice.

As written by one of the organizing members," We decided to choose a lighter sort of book for our next meeting. We chose *The Kingdon of Absurdities* by Bruce Gatenby, a book which claims to be an academic satire of contemporary academic life. We will meet in Baron-Forness Library, Room 715, on Tuesday, September 8th, at6:45. Please come and bring your friends!"

Thanks for the information!

Finally! Time to Read Non-Fiction: OUTLIERS

This weekend I was able to read OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS(Little Brown & Co., 2008) by Malcolm Gladwell. Previously I had read with interest his publications BLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING and THE TIPPING POINT: HOW LITTLE THINGS CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE.

OUTLIERS is one book I would advise anyone with grandchildren, children, nieces and nephews to read.

Success is not necessarily defined as having a genius-level IQ, but having intellectual ability that is 'smart enough'. Gladwell reviews such successful figures as Mozart,Robert Oppenheimer, Bill Gates, and others who have been 'smart enough'-some prodigies and some not; but all having been nurtured to a level of comfort with their culture, who have spent at least 10,000 hours practicing their passion, who happened to have been born in the right decade and even for some outstanding people, in the right months. He delves into the fields of sports, fine arts, technology, engineering, law, business, and education. I had never seen an explanation of math prowess among Asians versus American students based on an analysis of the languages of each, the culture of effort, and dignity of work. He even discusses the selection process of Harvard's freshman class. So many concepts making so much sense!

In addition to being an important contribution to our understanding (and misunderstanding) of success, OUTLIERS is an interesting read with great examples, easily-understood research stats, and a broader understanding of the accomplishments of successful people. Since we're interested in strong women who influence those in their lives, Gladwell's "Epilogue: A Jamaican Story" is not to be missed. He describes his grandmother and his mother, both strong, admirable women who have greatly influenced the man he is.

If you choose one non-fiction read this summer, consider OUTLIERS-you won't regret it. You can find Gladwell's most recent work and commentary on many areas by accessing his blog:

http://gladwell.typepad.com/

In Fashion or Not! Our Conversation

A group of us talked recently about clothes, why we can't find outfits that fit and are still professional and in fashion. In our 60's and 70's, we aren't finding much between the skimpy mini skirts/crop top lines and the very matronly styles. Thanks to all of the smart and sassy women taking part in our conversation!

With all of the baby boomers ready to look for nice, flattering clothes, we did acknowledge the value of the Chico's catalogue offerings. You can browse Chico's at http://www.chicos.com/.

With the advent of the sleeveless sheath worn by Michelle Obama, readers of MORE magazine asked where to find sheaths with sleeves( Thank you! Thank you!), noting that sleeves are better than 'arm spanx' (Yikes!) Editors gave some suggestions that we can access on the web:

Kay Unger at http://www.neimanmarcus.com/ ;

http://www.toryburch.com/;

Jones New york at http://www.bloomingdales.com/.

(MORE, April, 2009, 18).

With the demise of some of my favorite stores, I've gone to the web to search out and purchase many items, including clothes. Hopefully, these websites will let us search the possibilities and order online--or find items we like before the 2-hour trip to the stores listed above.