Caption: Hugh Delehanty

Posted: 12/12/2007 4:37pm

Category: Aging

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In the "old days," turning 50 used to signal the beginning of the end as far as your purpose in life was concerned. Thankfully, that thinking has gone the way of bell bottoms and segregation.

Hugh Delehanty, the editor-in-chief of AARP Publications, recognized that shift in thinking and used it to gather wonderful stories from some of the nation's greatest writers over 50. Their assignment? To reflect on the quest for a lifetime of meaning.

The book, "The Power of Experience," includes stories from authors like Amy Tan, Leonard Elmore and Anne Tyler.

Hugh says the book highlights the relevance and vibrancy of today's active adults. Plus, he says many of the stories showcase something that growing brain research is backing up -- something happens to us in our 40s that triggers us to stop focusing so much on "me" and instead think about the legacies we'll leave behind.