Mo Rocca and Patt Morrison | June 20, 2024

www.writersblocpresents.com
The Ebell of Los Angeles
Video: Karl Sonnenberg
Old age doesn’t shut down opportunities- it offers opportunities. So, what do some people in later life do with all that time on their hands? Humorist, terrific regular on our favorite NPR quiz show, Wait Wait…., journalist, and CBS News Correspondent Mo Rocca focuses his affectionate attention on people who have enjoyed continued or even initial successes very late in life, after the retirement clock kicks in for most.
His new book, Roctogenarians: Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs, written with Jonathan Greenberg, is a sort of prequel for Mo Rocca’s previous book and hugely popular podcast, Mobituaries. For the uninitiated, Mobituaries is a delightful and fascinating book which extends and expands upon the obituaries of notables and even some non-notables in history- illuminating sometimes great, sometimes eccentric and odd aspects that might have been forgotten.
In Roctogenarians, Mo Rocca offers readers enormous encouragement and inspiration about later life, as he profiles individuals who kept on going, and not into the sunset. These individuals accomplished magnificent feats in old age. Matisse with his cut-outs when he could no longer paint due to cancer. Norman Lear, Mel Brooks, Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner. Roget and his thesaurus. Diana Nyad, who swam that impossible swim at 64. Mary Church Terrell, who led sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in her late 80’s. The list is long and the stories are thrilling. As Mo Rocca might suggest, eighty is the new fifty. We’ll take it.
In conversation with history buff Patt Morrison. Patt is an award-winning journalist and commentator, sharing in two Pulitzers, countless Emmy Awards, and legions of fans at the Los Angeles Times. Patt’s columns in the LA Times illuminate the endlessly interesting history of Los Angeles. She hosts the podcast, Patt Morrison Asks, and is the author of several books, including Don’t Stop the Presses: Truth, Justice, and the American Newspaper.