Getting older is a beautiful thing
Bob Ramsey wrote the book “Creating Vital Aging Communities: How You and your Community Can Age Successfully Together” as a free gift to the community. (Photo by Seth Rowe)
BY EMILY HEDGES CONTRIBUTING WRITER Getting older is a beautiful thing, and aging societies aren’t something to fear. This is the premise of a new book by St. Louis Park resident Bob Ramsey called, “Creating Vital Aging Communities: How You and Your Community Can Age Successfully Together.” Pub-
lished through the support of two local foundations, Ramsey is currently meeting with local leaders and citizen groups to distribute the free book, raise awareness and ignite conversations. “In recent years I’ve become increasingly involved with issues involving seniors. I write a monthly column on vital aging that evolved to the point I felt compelled to write this book,” said Ramsey.
During the two years he spent working on the project, he hoped to engage local foundations to publish the book and in turn give it away. Park Nicollet Foundation and Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis came on board, and together made the project a reality. “We printed 500 copies, so we are strategic about how we disperse them,” Ramsey said. “Each book has a note at-
tached urging the reader to pass it along to someone else when they are finished.” Readers will find Ramsey’s work is actually two books in one. Book One looks at the individual, redefining what it means to be “old.” “They aren’t just taking longer to die. They want to live, to remain active, inRAMSEY - TO PAGE 4