Readers praise

LEAP!

“When a friend gave me Leap!, I thought, ‘Not another book for women about how to grow old. What the hell does that have to do with me?’ Three hours later, I was deep into the book—that had everything to do with me. I’m a man with a successful career, but my kids are grown, my once athletic body creaks with every push-up, and, most important, I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.

“Reading the stories in Leap! of people my age, famous and not so famous, embracing getting older, stirred and reenergized me. I’ve bought the book for a number of men, who all gave me attitude until I pushed them to read it. Now they’re LEAPing with me—not quite dunking the ball like we dreamed we did forty years ago, but feeling like we could.”

—BENJAMIN BYCEL

“I loved Leap! All those wonderful stories—every one had something to say to me. The most important was: We can do creative things for ourselves now. It doesn’t have to be for the recognition anymore. Thank you for writing this.”

—JILL EIKENBERRY

“You may not have been aware when you wrote Leap! that it would be not only a guide for aging boomers, but also a healing message for those in grief. My twenty-two-year-old son drowned in a boating accident not long ago. I have read ‘grief’ books people recommended—but they were not terribly satisfactory.

“So I picked up Leap! from my stack of unread books. It has done more to focus my mind on what to do under these tragic circumstances than almost all the other things I have tried. I am thinking about changing my job and living as your book suggests. My son’s premature death has shown me that life is too short and uncertain to do anything else.

“So many thanks for writing something that has been a true inspiration and source of comfort.”

—MICHAEL BARCLAY

“I know your book is intended for Boomers, but I think it speaks to my generation (I am thirty-two), because we are all trying to find purpose in this life. More important, I know it speaks to the people of New Orleans. I have never dealt with trying to find meaning in my life as I have post-Katrina. Once you go through a life-changing experience, you have a hard time looking at life the same way.”

—LUETTA MARCHANT

“My husband died four years ago.

I retired.

I’m off hormones.

My lover dumped me.

I’m getting deaf.

I think this is ‘the Narrows.’

I am reading your book.”

—ROGERS BARDE

“Loose Change was one of a handful of books that always went with me no matter how often I moved. Now Leap! will, too. I’m newly divorced, entering the workforce in my early sixties. For the first time, I have to make a living. I’m trying hard to embrace the change and uncertainty. Reading this book was a release from the guilt I’d felt in falling below ‘standards’ I was ‘supposed to have achieved’ at this time of my life. Your writing really comforts me. Keep publishing: I need you!”

—ELLEN ALTERMAN

“After a cerebral hemorrhage at fifty-five, I have spent the last year asking, ‘Now that you did not die, Laura—what the hell are you going to do from this point on?’

“I laughed out loud at parts of your book, and got tearful as well. Most of all, you are able to articulate what many of us were unable to before.

“Oh—and thanks for not being too ‘granola.’ I have read many pieces that are over the top with goodness and positive bullshit.

“Thanks for giving us HOPE!”

—LAURA NEVILLE

“FINALLY someone is explaining to me that I’m not alone in what I’m going through. This is especially important for a guy, since we aren’t talkers, I’ve heard!”

—DEL MARTINIS

“I just finished Leap! What joy! You made me laugh, cry, and contemplate. I retired from thirty years of teaching and have recently lost my father, my brother, and my eyesight. (I have only partial vision in one eye.) Empty inside and at a loss for what to do, your book inspired me. The people you interviewed were so familiar from books, articles, and excerpts that I felt I was home again—reading Leap!”

—CAROL ROSS

“Leap! is an education, a joy, a deep gasp, architecture for new and bolder perspectives, and above all an inspiration. Know that six copies are going out today to friends who are also sitting in mud and somewhat envious of my newfound energy and boldness due to Leap! Thank you!”

—GARY GROUNDS (NAME CHANGED AT REQUEST OF SENDER)

“When I saw your name on the cover I said, “Oh my god—Loose Change!” I was thrilled that you had tackled this topic—one which I was ignoring because to tackle it meant to throw my life into chaos, or at least to acknowledge the chaos my life had become.

“You are not an author to offer answers. What you do is more compelling—you reach out to the reader through story and personal narrative, and in the end allow us to connect with who we were and how we want to live now.”

—TANIA REIS