Susan Jacoby

Susan Jacoby is a secularist social commentator and author of Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age. Before visiting Zócalo to discuss the need to come to grips with the realities of aging more honestly, she answered a few questions in our Green Room.

Q. What do you wake up to?
A. I wake up naturally at six o’clock every morning like clockwork.

Q. How did you get into trouble as a child?
A. I got into trouble by asking the nuns questions about catechism.

Q. What do you consider beautiful?
A. Everything in the city of Florence, classical music, and memory. I consider memory the most beautiful thing in the world.

Q. What is your favorite season and why?
A. Fall, because I like the colors, and I love the sense of the last chance to really be outdoors before the winter comes.

Q. If you were a food, what would you be?
A. A tomato. An heirloom summer tomato.

Q. If you could make one more journey in your life, where would you go?
A. I’d go right back to Florence where I’ve had the happiest times of my life.

Q. When are you most creative?
A. Morning.

Q. What profession would you like to practice in your next life?
A. I’d like to be an art historian.

Q. What surprises you about your life right now?
A. That writing is still such hard work. It never gets any easier.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?
A. Vodka martini, straight up with a twist.

To read about Susan’s lecture, please click here.

*Photo by Aaron Salcido