Peter Clenott

The Vintage Years refers to this time in life, when according to Francine Toder, Ph.D. whose research into the factors that increase brain, body and psychological fitness, tells us that our health and our lives can be supercharged through the fine arts. Recent discoveries in neuroscience confirm that the brain, even beyond age sixty, if it’s fed a diet of complexity, newness and problem solving can flower and bloom. Engaging in fine arts addresses all three factors. Whether writing short stories, learning to play music, or painting landscapes—which are only a few among the many fine arts options—the brain benefits and continues to develop. Ironically, natural changes in brain and hormonal functioning beyond sixty actually facilitates mastery of the fine arts in ways not available to younger people. Dr. Toder’s new book, The Vintage Years: Finding Your Inner Artist (Writer, Musician, Visual Artist) After Sixty (285 pages, hard cover) explains these new findings in neuroscience while also glancing into the lives of more than twenty late-blooming artists who first took up the violin, memoir writing, or other artistic pursuits after they turned sixty. While some were motivated by curiosity, others desired to realize a previously unmet dream. Their stories inspire and validate Toder’s research. The book includes bibliographical references and index. Francine Toder, Ph.D., is an emeritus faculty member of California State University Sacramento and is a clinical psychologist recently retired from private practice. She is also the author of When Your Child Is Gone: Learning to Live Again (Ballantine, 1986) and Your Kids Are Grown: Moving On With and Without Them (Plenum Press, 1996) both critically acclaimed. Her extensive writing on diverse topics has appeared in magazines, professional journals, and edited-book chapters. She resides with her husband in the San Francisco area where she practices the cello daily.