First off this month, I have to start with an apology to one of my Three Big Questions experts. Through an editing error, the last name of my elder abuse expert, who submitted the answers to my Three Big Questions in the July issue of Prime, was spelled incorrectly. Her name is Patricia-Lee Baskin Scholpp. We are extremely sorry for this error.
My second apology is to you, our readers. I know many of you enjoy the column penned by my managing editor, G. Michael Dobbs, that appears in Prime each month. If you are also a reader of The Republican, MassLive, or you listen to the news on NPR, then you’ve probably heard that Reminder Publishing, which also publishes Prime, just bought the Westfield News Group. That means my managing editor just got a lot more journalists to manage, and that move came just about column deadline time for Prime.
With everything that’s been going on, I suggested he forego his column for this month. I’m hoping that things will settle down over the next few weeks and you’ll find him back in the pages of Prime in September.
Speaking of Three Big Questions, I hope those of you who have young people going off to college this fall (or who regularly communicate with younger family members through social media) find the information and opinions in this month’s column on social media etiquette useful.
The idea for this column sprang from a piece I read online, in which younger public relations workers were commenting on some of the social media errors made by their grandparents. Working in an office were most of my colleagues are young enough to be my children – yes, we have a young editorial staff, except for Dobbs and myself – and a sister marketing company that is comprised of young social media experts – I thought it was a prime opportunity (no pun intended) to get the facts straight from the horses’ mouth.
I have to say the individuals who responded were kind – but they did have some pointed suggestions.
Lastly, I hope you get the opportunity to go and listen to Dr. Patricia Peters Martin and Helene De Montreux Houston, co-authors of the new retirement planning book “Well-Come to Retirement” – the focus of this month’s feature story – when the pair are keynote speakers at Baystate Senior Class’ Autumn Festival.
Their holistic approach to planning for retirement is a refreshing change from the many finance-focused books out there, and the way they present the material using the eight dimensions of wellness presents a whole-person approach to the next phase of life.
As always, thanks for reading,
Debbie Gardner
debbieg@thereminder.com
