For Immediate Release Contact:
Nancy Frey 907-376-2932
nancy@autodidactic.com
Beyond
Golf and Card Games: New Book Presents a Philosophy for Fulfillment
in the Golden Years
In
popular culture, retirement is the stage of life when hardworking
adults get to kick back their heels and enjoy leisure, recreation
and consumption. Quite a different vision comes forward in a new
book on the rewards and opportunities of maturity, The Rapture of
Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning. Beyond midlife,
thinking about fundamental issues and preparing a legacy for one's
descendants offer the surest preventives against meaninglessness and
despair, suggests author Charles D. Hayes.
The true rewards of later life, says Hayes,
consist of intellectual and spiritual pleasures from:
- Sifting wisdom from your life experience and
seeking insight through thoughtful reflection
- Rekindling your interest in learning about
yourself and the world
- Connecting with younger generations to pass
on your lived experience and enthusiasm for authentic living
- Resolving to make some contribution to
global harmony and the future of humanity
Seniors adopting these objectives will put life
into perspective, enlarge their worldview and remain mentally
vibrant, says Hayes. In this context, "rapture" refers to sheer
intellectual joy at being alive, the reward for living
authentically, striving to better understand the world, and
accepting responsibility for posterity. "It's possible to leave a
vapor trail of your own interests so visible and powerful that
anyone who comes near is caught up in the wake," Hayes says in
The Rapture of Maturity.
Hayes, a self-taught philosopher, has been
writing about the value of self-education for nearly two decades. As
one of America's leading voices for lifelong learning, he has been
featured in USA Today, in the UTNE Reader, and on NPR's "Talk of the
Nation." He has been a Marine, a police officer, and an oil industry
worker in Alaska. His previous books include the award-winning
Beyond the American Dream, as well as Training Yourself,
Proving You're Qualified, and Self-University. His recent
novel, Portals in a Northern Sky, has inspired readers across
the country to read or reread classic literature. He was a
contributing writer for Creating Learning Communities,
published by The Foundation for Educational Renewal.
The Rapture of Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning
By Charles D. Hayes
Autodidactic Press, $21.95, Hardcover, 224 pages
Dist. Ingram Book
Company ISBN: 0-9621979-4-7, Publication date: September 1, 2004
The
Rapture of Maturity provides young and old with a roadmap
for developing a heightened awareness of life's mental treasures and
a new and profound understanding of the mysteries of human
existence.
Review copies and author interview arrangements
are available on request. Contact: Nancy Frey at 907-376-2932 or
nancy@autodidactic.com .