Beverlye’s Bounty

Telling us she is “shocked beyond belief,” and that it was the “most exciting honor I have ever received,” MJ columnist (“Aging in High Heels”) Beverlye Fead forwarded to us the following message she received recently:

“On behalf of the Alliance for Aging Research, we applaud your inspiring career as an author, speaker, and activist. We are especially delighted by your inspiring book related to aging, Aging in High Heels: Living a Life with Passion, Hope & Laughter, and related fantastic TEDx Talk, and moved by your books, Nana, What is Cancer?, and, Living with Cancer, Tracing a Year of Hope, which we believe are timeless resources for those facing cancer and the people they love to have meaningful conversations and connection. 

“For these important contributions, the Alliance would like to present you with our 2019 Perennial Hero Award at our 26th Annual Bipartisan Congressional Awards Dinner on Tuesday, September 17, 2019. The Dinner, Heroes in Health: An Evening to Celebrate Engagement, Compassion, and Healthy Aging, will take place at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.

“The Perennial Hero Award was started to honor an older individual who is actively contributing to create positive societal change and serves as a role model for people of all ages. The idea to describe older adults as perennials’ originally came from fashion technology executive and mentor, Maureen Conners. Dr. Laura Carstensen, Professor of Psychology, Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy at Stanford University, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, and a 2016 Alliance for Aging Research awardee, wrote about this new term in a December 2017 Washington Post piece. 

“If you would like to accept, please let us know within the next few weeks, as this will allow us to make the best use of the time ahead to ensure a worthy event.”

 Needless to say, Ms Fead eagerly accepted the invitation and may even be on her way to Washington, D.C. (or returning) as you read this.

And, needless to say, we congratulate Beverlye (whose second “career,” we are proud to report, coincided nearly twenty years ago with an interview conducted by yours truly upon the release of her first book, Nana, What is Cancer? right here in the Montecito Journal).