THE NEW 60: Outliving Yourself and Reinventing a Future

The New 60 is an exploration of approaching (and, eventually, arriving at) 60—an age that had once seemed beyond my reach. Aging in the 21st Century is an exciting new frontier. We are redefining its meaning as we live it. This is that journey—much of it a surprise even to me. Tracey Jackson on THE NEW 60: Robert Levithan writes with the wisdom of a sage, the enthusiasm of a kid, the depth of someone who has seen the world from all sides and the humor of someone who always knows where the joke is hiding. While he is often classified as a gay writer, or writer of subjects pertaining to the gay experience, he manages to take all of his topics and somehow turn them into universal stories. I have never read one of Robert’s pieces and not walked away with a great life lesson. In all of his work one sees oneself, one’s friends, one’s lovers, and one’s life. He is sometimes the benevolent father, sometimes the naughty, yet learned instructor, often the whimsical brother or sister you wish you had and he can even be the gossipy neighbor upstairs. But while he is able to pull off all these various personas he is always without hesitation, or question dealing up heavy doses of the truth; his own and thus ours. For me that is what makes him not only a wonderful writer, but a writer who transcends race, gender, and sexual identity. He writes about the human condition in all its various incarnations and while forcing us to think, he ultimately always reminds us how lucky we are to be alive and to relish every thing that comes our way. — Tracey Jackson, Screenwriter Author of Between A Rock and a Hot Place, and blogger