“WHY FIFTY IS THE NEW FIFTY” & THAT’S GOOD NEWS!

Suzanne Braun Levine, Gloria Steinem, Isabella Rossellini, Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-MD), and More magazine editor, Lesley Jane Seymour to share stories and insights from the Frontlines of Second Adulthood -
June 1, 2009, Barnes & Noble (NYC, Lincoln Center)

April 21, 2009 — “In our culture,” says Suzanne Braun Levine, author of FIFTY IS THE NEW FIFTY: 10 Life Lessons for Women in Second Adulthood, “the assumption is that youth–or at least younger–is the ideal state and that given a choice, no woman in her right mind would relinquish it.” Based on her experience, research and interviews with many women, Levine says, “I have found the opposite to be true. Many of us delight in rejecting that backward looking mindset of “Fifty is the new 30!”

Why Fifty is the New Fifty & That’s Good News! will be the subject of a panel with Levine, Gloria Steinem, Isabella Rossellini, Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) and moderated by Lesley Jane Seymour, editor of More magazine, the magazine for women over forty, on June 1 (6 p.m., Barnes & Noble, NYC, Lincoln Center, 1972 Broadway at 66th Street).

Gloria Steinem who famously said, “This is what forty looks like” on her 40th birthday, just turned 75! Isabella Rossellini claims she wouldn’t have dared take on her successful series, GREEN PORNO (Sundance Channel), until she safely turned fifty. Rep. Donna Edwards, a rising star in Congress, ran for office the year she turned fifty.

Panelists will share their own stories and those of other women energized by this empowering new stage of life.

“Second Adulthood is a new frontier and has its own “password,” and it’s not Botox,” says Levine. “NO is not a four-letter word,” she says. “And, saying NO! is the “password” for women entering this empowering life stage.”

“Saying NO isn’t as easy as it may look,” says Levine, “but with every assertion of independence, with every rejection of unwanted demands, and with every act of standing up to insult or authority, we get stronger,” she says. “And we get better at saying YES! to what really matters.” That may mean hearing herself say “I don’t care what people think any more. I care what I think.” It may mean taking up belly dancing just for fun. A woman may want to:

• Give up high heels simply because they’re uncomfortable and belts because she (sigh) has no use for them anymor
• Question their relationships and the meaning of work Try some new and totally out-of-character experiences
• Put themselves at the top of their ‘to-do list,’ take better care of herself, and not see that as being selfish or self-indulgent

Among the lessons in the book are: Number Four - “A Circle of Trust is a Must” in which Levine describes “the companionship of like-minded women which gives us courage, reduces stress, and is the best problem-solving environment there is.” And, Lesson Eight - “Your Marriage Can Make it” - which confirms that many marriages get better with midlife change.

The new book is filled with the revelations, anecdotes, practical solutions, stories and the voices of women from the frontlines of this challenging time. “Fifty,” says Levine, “is its own wonderful age and most women in Second Adulthood wouldn’t have it any other way. They are very happy with where they are at fifty, sixty and seventy.” And that, she believes is “the most important message to share with younger women.”

More than 37 million are part of this first generation of Women in Second Adulthood in U.S. history and “they are becoming each others’ horizontal role models,’” says Levine. “Their bond is common experience. And, the honesty with which they share it.”

Join the conversation at: www.suzannebraunlevine.com
To schedule an interview with Suzanne Braun Levine, contact: Louise Braverman, 212.366.2752 /
louise.braverman@us.penguingroup.com