Before the answers to life’s questions fit in our pocket, you used to have to turn a dial. If you were lucky, Phil Donahue would be on, ready to guide you toward enlightenment. In a stroke of deluxe good fortune, Dr. Ruth Westheimer might have stopped by to be the enlightenment. He was the search…
When I was growing up, my dad, who has left the country only a few times, told me about the trip to Europe he took with his parents when he was 14, in 1966. He told me how much Nonie loved the immaculate Swiss streets and window boxes fizzing with flowers; the fireplace in the…
Wendy Williams, the former daytime talk show host, has been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia and aphasia, a disorder that makes it difficult or impossible for a person to express or comprehend language, according to a statement from her representatives. Ms. Williams, 59, who hosted “The Wendy Williams Show” on Fox for more than a decade,…
Naomi Feil was only 8 years old when she moved into what was then known as a home for the aged, where her parents worked. Living there until she left for college, she learned firsthand, by trial and error, how to comfort and communicate with older adults. When she died at 91 on Dec. 24…
My father decided to start learning French when he was 57. He hired a tutor to meet with him twice a week and diligently completed his homework before every lesson. Before long, he was visiting the French bakery across town to practice his pronunciation (and buy macarons). Now, 20 years later, he’s on his third…
