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Grow Old Along with Me...

5/20/2024

 
By Margaret Green, Library Committee

“How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was?" 
--Satchel Paige, Professional Baseball Pitcher, Hall of Fame

​Are we all as old as we feel? I have to laugh at that, because my number would be a large one!  Fiction with senior main characters can deal with aging issues in provoking, entertaining, and bittersweet ways.  They can lead us to a better understanding and appreciation of our own situations.

​
Current bestseller Remarkable Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt has two senior main characters.  Marcellus, a charming and grumpy Pacific octopus approaching the end of his life, is the narrator.  Marcellus’s relationship with “Coffman-age” cleaning lady, Tova Sullivan, is an exploration into family, friendship, loneliness, grief, looking back at our lives and facing death with dignity. Marcellus is an example for us all.  (In the Coffman Library, shelved in Recent & Relevant.)
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I laughed out loud reading The Thursday Murder Club, the first of the Thursday Murder Club series, by Richard Osman. Several humorous descriptions of the retirement community that is the setting for the series could have taken place here at Coffman. The life experiences and wisdom of the retired main characters--
Elizabeth ex-spy, Joyce former nurse, Ibrahim ex-psychiatrist and Ron retired union activist--allows them to investigate unsolved murders using their professional skills. There are four in this series, and the fourth, The Last Devil to Die, has a sensitive and thought -provoking treatment of the “right to die” issue as the characters deal with the death of Elizabeth’s beloved spouse. (In the Coffman Library, shelved in Mystery/Spy.)
​

And then there are my personal favorites--characters who have aged along with me, throughout a series.  John Sanford has done it with Lucas Davenport, Laurence Block with Mathew Scudder, Donna Leon with Guido Brunetti. I recently reread the Dorothea Sayers series with Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane.  The titles have not held up as well as I would have liked BUT Jill Paton Walsh has carried on with the series with four terrific titles where Lord Peter and Harriet grow old together. In The Late Scholar, Lord Peter is in his 60s, and they return to the Oxford of Gaudy Night. (Full series at the Ramsey County Library, kindle and paper editions. The Late Scholar is in the Coffman Library, shelved in Mystery/Spy.)

Calling All Consumers!

5/5/2024

 
By Faye Herold, originally published in the May 2024 issue of the 1666 Coffman Newsletter

I have recently subscribed to Consumer’s Checkbook, Twin Cities Edition, a magazine with similarities to Consumer Reports, but from a different angle. Issued only twice a year, it is packed with information about products, advice, and ratings based on reports from customers, all with the goal of helping you find the best companies, stores, and services in our area. Consumer’s Checkbook does NOT rate products: “nonprofit, independent ratings of local service providers on quality and price since 1974. We accept no advertising."

Some of the services they rate include auto services, healthcare providers, home care, financial, personal services, stores, and pet care.

​
Consumer’s Checkbook may be available in the public library you use. Articles from their writers appear frequently in the Business Section of the Sunday Star Tribune. I hope to share my subscription in Coffman’s Library (my first issue is yet to come).

You can find more information at checkbook.org. ​
​
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  • Home
    • Virtual Tour
    • Amenities
    • Art Gallery >
      • Dreams & Woodcraft
      • Botanicals & Gold
    • Exercise Room
    • Flora & Fauna
  • Activities
    • Coffman Calendar
    • Ongoing Activities
  • Residents' Realm
    • Newsletter
    • Coffman Office >
      • Coffman Calendars
      • Exchange
      • Resident Absence
      • Accident Form
      • Room Reservations >
        • Social Room Reservations
        • Dining Room Reservations
        • Guest Room Reservations
        • Other Room Reservations
    • Maintenance >
      • Maintenance Calendar
      • Trash
    • Governing Documents
    • Operational Documents >
      • 2024 Reserve Study
    • Board & Committees >
      • ad hoc HVAC Committee
      • Social Room Update
      • Garden >
        • Garden Contact
    • Emergency procedures
    • Suggestion Box
  • Library
    • News & Updates
    • Find & Check Out Books
    • Tour the Library
    • Recommended Reading >
      • Reader Reviews
      • Acquisitions
    • Book Night >
      • Book Night Archive
    • Donating Books
  • Available Units
    • Application Form
    • Condos for Sale
    • Floor Plans
  • Contact