L4Q Round-up for January

Need inspiration? It's right here

Hi, everyone!

This round-up is about inspiration - from Substack, the New Yorker, and even the Wall St. Journal.

I’m also excited to introduce you, below, to a great podcast series - Century Lives, hosted by Ken Stern, founder of the Longevity Project.

(Bonus: I interviewed Ken recently about his new book, Living to 100: How Strong Social Ties Lead to Long Lives (affiliate link).)

Jane

Substack

• The Importance of a Long and Very Close Friendship - Ann Richardson

  We’ve all had these. Some we’ve let slide. Ann’s piece reminds us of the rich continuum of friendship, even with those we don’t see often, yet can pick up with in a second. Read it and call your old friend.

• Do you Talk To Yourself in the Third Person? - Patricia Cusack

  I do, and as it turns out, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, science tells us it can help reframe our brains in a good way. Better than beating ourselves up with negative self-talk!

• My Gift to You: An Annual Review That Actually Works - Healthy Seniors

This piece was published at the end of last year, but 2026 is new enough and the info is rich enough to dive right in. There are two main parts: Part I is Looking Back at 2025 With Honest Eyes, an analysis of 2025. This is why you want to jump on this article before 2025 becomes a blur of unclear memories.

Part II is Setting Intentions. Note: it’s not goals, it’s intentions.

As if to underscore, Health Seniors writes,

It’s time to think about the year ahead (the one we’ve already started.) Not with pressure. Not with ambitious goals that set you up for failure. But with gentle quiet intention.

The New Yorker

On Becoming a Centenarian by Calvin Tomkins,

The New Yorker magazine turned 100 in 1925, and so did staff writer Calvin Tomkins. Their lives - that of the publication and Calvin - have been intertwined since 1958, when the magazine published his first fiction piece. Since then, his profiles have been wide-ranging: Julia Child and Roger Federer were two outside the luminaries of the art world. In his centenarian year, Tomkins decided to keep a journal about his current life, and his reflections on the past and present. The upshot is a fascinating glimpse into the life of someone reaching the century mark.

The Wall Street Journal

The 94-Year-Old Sharing Her Tips on the “Final Fifth “of Life by Judith Viorst,

Wait, the “final fifth”? I thought there were 4 quarters to life. What’s this about? Is it Judith Viorst’s signature humor? It maybe. The WSJ piece notes her latest book, Making the Best of What’s Left: When We’re Too Old To Get The Chairs Reupholstered (affiliate link), is a tutorial on “making meaning in later life.” The Journal writes,

Dealing with losses of loved ones and places, something shared by many in later years, she wondered, “How do we make meaning at this time of life?”

The resulting “Making the Best of What’s Left” was written not just for her peers, but for anyone with parents, relatives or friends in what she calls the “final fifth.” It’s also for those simply contemplating how they want to grow old.

That would be most of us, dear Reader.

Podcast

Century Lives, The New Old

Noted in the intro above, this series delves into seven lions of our time: comedian Margaret Cho, Swimmer Diane Nyad, activist Jacynth Bassett, author and tour guide par excellence Rick Steves, poet Billy Collins, NPR legend Nina Totenberg, and the incomparable Fran Drescher. Enjoy!