Don’t
Let the
Sunshine
In

74. In case you haven’t heard, the sun can do bad things to your skin. That’s why most beauty professionals avoid tanning like the plague: We know the number-one way to look older is to bake ourselves.

I didn’t know this growing up. When I was a kid on Long Island, we would spend summers working on our tans, then line up our arms from elbows to wrists to compare progress. Yes, I had the Mediterranean genetic advantage over my fair-skinned Germanic friends—but I also worked harder: This was back in the 1970s, when there was no sunscreen, just suntan oil with SPF 2. So starting in May, I smelled like coconuts. By the time August rolled around, I looked like a slice of pumpernickel. It was awe-inspiring—if sizzling your largest organ floats your boat.

Then one day in my mid-twenties, while I was sunbathing in Florida, the pumpernickel turned beet red. My skin was telling me to stop. I listened.

Today, I never leave home without sunscreen, even on my hands. I wear long sleeves during the day in summer, especially on the beach. And I own a ton of hats. I do look foolish sometimes.* But bedspread-head beats turning red—or dead.** And if I need a little extra color, the fake stuff comes off in the shower.

* Me at my niece Sydney’s college graduation with my son, Trent.
There were no seats left under the tent.

** Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the number-one cause of skin cancer.