[Alumni-chat] Peg Bracken, Antioch '40, author of best seller I HATE TO COOK BOOK writes about old age as a comedy experience!

[Art Dole]

Yazz--thiis is wonderful tribute to Peg Bracken. I got to know her when we
toted trays in the Tea Room. Sad to say, she died in 2007.

Art Dole '46



On 1/8/08 7:33 AM, "YAZZ ALLEN" <davidallenusa at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Jan. 8, 08
>  
> Hi from Yazz (David) Allen '66 (Email me at: YazzAllen at Yahoo.Com):
>  
> Peg Bracken, Antioch College, Ohio '40 is about 90 years old these days if
> she's still with us (I hope she is....I was in email contact with her about 5
> years ago, and she described a relatively recent stop-by visit to Antioch in
> Ohio trip she made and her reactions to how things had changed since her
> pre-WWII times as a teen at Antoch).   When she and I were in contact, she
> lived in Oregon with her husband.
>  
> As many Antiochians know, Peg Bracken '40 was (and is) the author of one of
> the best selling humor books of the 20th century titled THE I HATE TO COOK
> BOOK,   written and widely discussed in the 1960's.
>  
> Peg didn't choose to "go gentle into that good night" (see Dylan Thomas' poem
> about that he wrote to his father urging his Dad NOT to "go gentle into that
> good night").
>  
> She wrote a terrific humor book about old age as a comedy experience, and I
> reviewed it for Amazon.Com.
>  
> I mentioned Peg's status as an Antiochian of fame.  Those who engage in public
> writing like me about people part of Antioch can use the occasion as an excuse
> to boost and publicize and enthuse about Antioch College........it's a good
> way to get the old school back on it's feet and "going" again........a job
> which always needs doing and has since 1852, it seems!
>  
> Here's my Peg Brack old age book review from Amazon.Com, FYI (see all 34
> Amazon.Com book reviews I wrote by inputting DAVID ROGER ALLEN as a "reviewer"
> search term on the Amazon.Com website or the Google.Com site):
>  
> ----------------
>  
>                 On Getting Old for the First Time     by Peg Bracken
> Edition: Hardcover    Availability: Currently unavailable
>            51 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
> 
>  
> LIKE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, PEG BRACKEN STILL ACHIEVES AT 80+!, February 16, 2001
> 
>  
> Peg Bracken (Mrs. John Ohman of Portland, Oregon), renowned author of THE I
> HATE TO COOK BOOK and ten other equally worthwhile published works, is now
> past age 80, and like Frank Lloyd Wright, still working full time at what she
> does best, satiric essay writing with a homespun yet bitingly witty edge.
>  
>  
> Ms. Bracken is a 1940 graduate of Ohio's famous Antioch College, one of the
> world's most important and individualistic higher education centers. Peg
> Bracken is certainly a daughter of Antioch, individualistic, outspoken,
> charming, and intelligent in ways disarming, yet very easy to relate to and
> admire. 
>  
>  
> The subject of her latest book is Old Age, and she writes about her subject in
> her well known humorous way in almost a journalistic style. Her writing about
> her personal experiences as an "Older Person" is what the American Association
> For Retired Persons magazine should offer, but, sadly, never does. It is
> relevant, poignant, and filled with important observations skillfully cradled
> in diplomatic and humane style, always self-deprecating and fraught with wit
> and humor created by a person obviously born with a gift in those areas.
>  
>  
> Peg Bracken really covers her subject in almost all areas one could wish and
> does so in only 125 pages, happily presented in readable, larger than average
> typeface, ideal for comfortable reading and reflecting. I read the first
> chapter of ON GETTING OLD FOR THE FIRST TIME in a Cockeysville, Maryland
> (suburban Baltimore) public library, and found myself laughing out loud so
> noisily that the usually tolerant librarians on duty were forced to make
> several visits to my reading location, and ask me to quiet down.
>  
>  
> I really did try to accommodate them, but Peg Bracken's wit is so astonishing
> and infectious, I finally realized that, for me, her book would only be
> readable in a non-public location. It's too funny for public library located
> consumption. 
>  
>  
> This said, it should be noted her subject matter is very serious, and the
> implied conclusions raised by her intelligent writing constitute the best food
> for thought I've ever read by any author, ancient or modern, on the subject of
> Old Age. 
>  
>  
> Get this book and read it. Buy it. Keep it at home, and re-read it again and
> again over the years. Encourage your local public library system, nursing
> homes, retirement communities, and booksellers to stock multiple copies at all
> times, and to publicize it continuously.
>  
>  
>  
> This modest little book is a classic, and though the self-effacing Ms. Bracken
> would likely be the first to deny it, a true work of genious. In today's
> world, we need all the genious and wisdom we can get, especially on the
> subject of Old Age.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----
>   Contact "Yazz" (David) Allen directly via email at YazzAllen at Yahoo.Com, mail
> to 644 Shrewsbury Commons Ave., #239, Shrewsbury PA USA 17361...phone (717)
> 235 - 1982!
>  
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> "IActor, "WWW.CastingNetworks.Com.
> 
> 
> 
>      
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