Lyn Slater is a retired professor at Fordham University in New York, a former social worker, model, fashion icon, writer, social media influencer, and advocate for positive aging. She is also one of us— a baby boomer. After following Slater for years on Instagram and Facebook as the “Accidental Icon”, I was delighted to hear she was working on a book about aging so I put in my order last fall. “How To Be Old, Lessons In Living Boldly From The Accidental Icon” was finally released last week and delivered to my door from Amazon.
I devoured Slater’s book, highlighted numerous words of wisdom, and flagged dozens of pages for future reference. Her observations and exploration of aging issues for women our age (baby boomers) are inspiring.
Having worked for decades as a social worker, Slater made little money and worked with women and children who were exposed to daily suffering, trauma, sexual abuse and poverty. She earned her PhD in social work in her fifties. This led to a career teaching at Fordham University where she attracted attention for her particularly stylish clothing and non-traditional approach to dressing.
The emotional and demanding nature of Slater’s social work prompted her to realize early in her career that she needed to pursue outside interests very different from her daily work, and tap into her innate creativity to manage stress. She attended classes at the fashion institute and took writing and improv classes to further develop her love of fashion and explore her creativity. These activities led to her creating a blog in 2014, The Accidental Icon.
Through her blog, her fashion sense and philosophy on aging Slater attracted major brand names who wanted her to represent their products. Before she knew it, Slater was swept up in the whirlwind world of “influencer”. It is indeed an unusual leap from social work and teaching to acting as a representative for major brands like Dior and Hermès.
She enjoyed this for a while. . . until she didn’t. Feeling like she was compromising her standards and personal values, Slater became disillusioned with the heady experience of being an influencer. Concurrent with and partly due to the restrictions enforced by COVID, she withdrew from the fashion-influenced lifestyle and reassessed her life.
This reassessment and reconstruction is the true essence of How To Be Old. By the time we were all returning to a somewhat more normal post-COVID existence, Slater had decided to make major life changes as she moved into and through her sixties. She walks us, year by year, through the ten years leading to the authentic bad-ass Lyn Slater at seventy.
I loved every word on every page of Slater’s book. Not everyone might find her as inspiring as I did but that’s the nature of subjective reading. She has interacted with life at both ends of the economic spectrum and has wisdom to share. Her words prompted me to follow up on my longtime desire to sign up for improv classes and get more involved in the writing community.
How To Be Old is an exploration of Lyn Slater’s personal and professional evolution during her sixties written in memoir style. Each chapter is titled accordingly beginning with the first chapter titled 60 Predicting The Future by Inventing It, to the final Chapter 69 Let The Old Become New Again which affirm how life can become richer with each year. I look forward to re-reading it, especially all my highlighted bits.
Being old, particularly in my sixties, has been the best time of my own life and reading Slater’s book validated my personal experience. Now, at seventy-six, I celebrate each day and look forward to new and exciting experiences. What about you? Are you the kind of old lady you want to be?
If you are unable to obtain How To Be Old by Lyn Slater at your local bookstore or library, click here or on the image of the cover (right) to have it delivered directly to your door from Amazon. (Disclosure: I may receive a teeny, tiny commission. Thank you.)
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I just finished listening to Lyn’s book, narrated by her. I, too, hung on every word. I love her self-proclaimed rebellious streak. She has inspired me to rub a little of my retired elementary school teacher sweetness off.
So glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. Thanks so much for your feedback, Linlee.
Sounds like another interesting read.
You’re already living your best life but I think you would enjoy it. Thanks, Terry.