Never shy about sharing my research, ideas and opinions, I’m available to address your group on a variety of topics.
My talks promise to be informative and entertaining, and to challenge audiences to think in new ways. A partial list of lectures and keynotes I’ve delivered follows. I’m glad to craft a customized speech for you. Contact me to discuss your needs.
Making the Most of Middle Age
Keynote address for the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, Annual Meeting, April 2018: I argue Middle Age in the contemporary era progress in reverse from the historical Middle Ages. Our Middle Age begins with the departure of the barbarians, when the kids leave the nest. The High period takes place during the years when those with good health and a little money can enjoy life as never before. But unlike the historical Middle Ages, humans don’t advance away from Antiquity, but head toward it. This talk attempts to help people accept aging, enjoy it, and prepare for the end.
Having the Last Word
Information workshop for Brattleboro Area Hospice, National Healthcare Decisions Week, April 2018: A fun, funny and informative talk about how to write an obituary for yourself or someone you love that captures the essence of a person’s life and helps establish how that person will be remembered.
Lessons From the Long Trail: How 25 Days on the Long Trail Changed My Life
A talk with slides delivered to The Dummerston Conservation Commission; The Whitingham Free Public Library; The Brown Bag Lunch Series, Brattleboro; The Moore Free Library, Newfane; Valley Cares (assisted living), Townshend.
This talk is about my through-hike of The Long Trail, when a college friend and I walked from Massachusetts to Canada to celebrate turning sixty. Walking and talking for twenty-five days on the oldest recreational footpath in the United States gave us a chance to figure out what comes next in what poet Mary Oliver calls “your one wild and precious life.” We reached the Canadian border with new ideas about how to live more mindfully.
Caring for the Caregiver
Keynote address for the International Association of Administrative Professionals to inaugurate the formation of an IAAP chapter at National Life, Montpelier; April 2013.
As a doctor’s wife, I’ve learned how important it is to care for those who care for others. In this talk, I share some of these lessons for those whose jobs require caregiving, which can be defined in many different ways.
Civic Homily
As Moderator for Newfane Town Meeting (an elected position), I open each meeting with a civic homily to give historical perspective to current issues and the business at hand. Yearly since 2011, I’ve talked about history of flooding in Newfane following Tropical Storm Irene; Community and Democracy; Rescuing Town Meeting.