Take it from Rivers, retirement won't keep you happy

May 2012 By G. Michael Dobbs news@thereminder.com Hey Baby Boomers, do you remember "retirement?" The example that was all around us as we grew up was that we would work for the same company for most of our lives, have one career and at age 65, we would get a gold watch, a hearty handshake, a pension and enjoy our "golden years." We would follow our dreams and travel; devote ourselves to grandchildren and cross items off our bucket list. Women could dye their hair a lovely shade of blue and guys could dress in a dizzying array of prints and checks and simply not care that they looked like a television test pattern. A pitcher of martinis would be waiting every day at 5 p.m. and every winter there would be a trek to Florida. In 2012, though, the reality of retirement is quite a bit different: part-time jobs, leaving your job at a later age and re-inventing yourself several times before and after that hearty handshake. In many instances, you might be taking care of a parent or raising your grandchildren. "Golden years" indeed. As I grow older — 60 is just about two years away — I realize more and more that perhaps the mythic retirement of the 1960s might be over-rated. If you're lucky, you could grow up and be like Joan Rivers. Rivers may be 79, but she has no intention to retire. As she told me, "I don't like playing cards and I hate old people." She is still one of the quickest comics I've interviewed with an ad-lib and clearly one of the savviest people in show business. Speaking to Rivers was inspirational. Here is a person who has undergone significant tragedy and struggle in her life and has managed to re-invent herself and keep finding new ways to entertain both audiences and herself. For Rivers, her work is her life and vice versa. I've known two other people with the same attitude and I was honored that both called me their friend. Myron Waldman was an animation director, whose cartoons for the legendary Fleischer Studios garnered several Academy Award nominations. He kept on drawing and working on projects up until his death several years ago at age 96. Myron wasn't interested in retiring and neither was Richard Gordon, a film producer who made movies with people such as Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Richard passed away last year at age 86. Every day he went to his office in Manhattan where he made distribution deals on his library of films. When I asked him once if he wanted to retire, he replied, "What would I do?" Now, I know that everyone has their own path in life and I certainly don't fault anyone who would simply like to take off their shoes and prop their feet up for a couple of years after working most of their lives. It seems to me that the happiest people are those who keep active, whether with their career, or a part-time job or volunteering. Now while I don't want to be punching a clock at age 79, I know I'll want to continue writing and I hope to continue to be paid to do so until I shuffle off this mortal coil. Mark Twain once wrote, "Work is a necessary evil to be avoided." But interestingly enough, the great man of American letters didn't follow his own rule. He wrote right up until his death.