New York Times reporter John Leland visited Noble on July 14 to share what he’d learned from spending a year among six New Yorkers ages 85 and up. The 85+ set represents the fastest growing age group in the country, numbering nearly six million. Leland’s experience was the basis for long-running series in the Sunday Times, and which have been collected in his new book Happiness Is A Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old.
“When you get old you have to make yourself happy,” he said, but the good news is that the people he met have been successful in doing that. “They lead rich lives,” he continued. “Old age is not a problem but a resource to tap.”