Aging and the Art of Living

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Writing a book is such a socially and culturally embedded adventure that an attempt to thank everybody who has been important along the way can only be futile. However, some people deserve to be mentioned explicitly. Andrew Achenbaum from the University of Houston; Harry Moody, Director of Academic Affairs for AARP in Washington; and Hanne Laceulle from the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht, The Netherlands, have endeavored to read the complete text of an earlier version of the manuscript, and I am very grateful for their thoughtful comments which have improved the book in many ways. I am also thankfully indebted to Dale Dannefer from Case Western University, Cleveland, for scrutinizing the first two chapters with his impressive expertise on theories of aging and the life course. This has been another round in an extended and rich exchange of thoughts between us. The common project with Joseph Dohmen from the University of Humanistic Studies on the rediscovery of forgotten philosophical texts about aging experiences has been an important source of inspiration in the background. Elly Baake assisted me beautifully during the initial stages of the book, translating Dutch texts into English, and Elizabeth Yoder has graciously helped me in polishing the text to its final form. I am grateful to them and also to Wendy Harris and Suzanne Flinchbaugh from the Johns Hopkins University Press for their enthusiasm and support in publishing this book. Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my wonderful wife who has lovingly endured another quest and who understands, being an author herself, that peculiar desire to sit down quietly and “write.” This page intentionally left blank Aging and the Art of Living This page intentionally left blank ...