The late baby boomers are starting to reflect on ways to grow old well, and these 30 affecting pieces by prominent New Zealanders over the age of 65 serve as extremely strong pieces of autobiography, as inspiration and as meditation. No zimmerframes and retirement homes for this lot. The contributors, who include Elizabeth McRae, Wilson Whineray, Ranginui Walker, Brian Edwards, Merimeri Penfold, Hamish Keith, Elizabeth Smither, Sir Paul Reeves, Barry Brickell, Vincent O'Sullivan and Michel Corballis, continue to make a vital contribution to our nation. Editor Gordon McLauchlan encouraged them to be frank and self revealing. Their essays read like letters for their eventual descendants: on how they saw the world and themselves when young, on the issues around growing old, on how they see the future, and on the wisdom they've picked up along the way. It's a compelling, essential collection.