Photo by Evan Kafka

E Street A Little Spring Cleaning By Steven Slon, May & June 2008 From the editor's desk...

I just want to state for the record that we were driving the “change” bandwagon long before all those presidential aspirants made it their rallying cry. Year after year, in story after story, we’ve talked about how essential it is to grow, to open up new avenues of thought, to try new things—to reinvent oneself at 50 and beyond.

(And we’ve also challenged the way older people are stereotyped in the media as being unyielding and resistant to change.)

After all this talk, it was time to put our money where our mouth was: following more than a year of planning, we’re presenting a fresh look for AARP The Magazine. The magazine is better organized, easier to navigate, and—I hope you’ll agree—pretty easy on the eyes. The brilliant architect behind these changes is design director Andrzej Janerka, with lots of able support from art director Todd Albertson and the rest of the art team.

And the magazine’s beauty is more than skin-deep. You’ll find much that’s new here, including a whole section, The Art of Living. As the name implies, The Art of Living is about experiencing life to the max—savoring every moment. Kudos to brainy features editor George Blooston, who conceived and developed the section.

AARP: Assistance and Information for People 50 and Over
AARP is the nation's leading organization for people 50 and over. Stay informed with AARP The Magazine and the monthly AARP Bulletin. Joining online is fast, easy and only $12.50/year.

I’m also proud to present two new columnists in our Navigator pages. Peter Greenberg, who joins us as travel editor at large, is a regular on NBC’s Today show and numerous other programs. In his column, The Contrarian Traveler, Greenberg will point you toward great getaways, insider strategies, and irresistible deals (and he’ll answer travel questions online at www.aarp.org/petergreenberg).

Then there’s Leslie Baumann, M.D., who, in Looking Great, helps take the guesswork out of skin care. Baumann is the director of cosmetic dermatology at the University of Miami and the author of The Skin Type Solution (Bantam, 2006).

If you do nothing else, check out our extraordinary report on the 40th anniversary of 1968. You’ll be spellbound by the eloquent witnesses who vividly recall the pain, the rage, and the blossoming of hope that changed our country forever that year, the most important year in modern American history.

This collage of impressions, images, and voices was painstakingly assembled by our talented features editor Marilyn Milloy. I also urge you to investigate the wealth of additional material Milloy and our online team have assembled for the Web.

Steven Slon
Editor, AARP The Magazine
editor@aarp.org

601 E Street NW
Washington, DC 20049