Customer Reviews

Elsa's Own Blue Zone: America's Centenarian Sweetheart's Insights for Positive Aging and Living

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Elsa's Own Blue Zone by Sharon Textor-Black (her grand-daughter) is a nice tribute to Elsa and her family. Even though it does contain some insights for positive aging and living I was disappointed because much of the book is based on a family that has money and many of the suggestions cannot be implemented by the everyday American senior who is on a fixed-income. I could quote many exerts from the book that depict my statements but there are just too many and I tired of reading them (and looking at way too many family pictures) and feeling annoyed that everyday Americans just don't have the available funds to live as this family does. The book is something that their family probably treasures and understandably so. However, I did not learn much except how people with money and a positive attitude carry on with their lives. Unless you are related to this family or friends of this family - I suggest you save your money.

If you want to live a long, healthy life, get some centenarian role models. If you want a centenarian role model who knows how to enjoy life and have fun, top of the list is Elsa Hoffmann. Her granddaughter wrote a biography of Ms Hoffman that gives a good flavor of how ebullient she is. At 101, she manages her own apartment, does her own cooking and ironing, drives, and has a rich social life.

What makes Elsa such a vital person at 101? The genetic lottery probably accounts for about 25% of her success. Other factors include:

* There are hundreds of studies that indicate optimists live longer, healthier, happier lives. Elsa is an absolute master at optimism. While her granddaughter sees Elsa's childhood as Prussian, Elsa sees it as great lessons in discipline and attention to detail. While Elsa wanted to be a teacher, she sees her father's insistence on business school having served her very well.

* One of the most difficult challenges in living a long life is dealing with the death of friends and family. Even the death of her son and her beloved husband didn't throw her for very long. She has a view of death that it is a natural event and leads to an even better place. Further, for those who are suffering in pain, as her son did, it is a reprieve from suffering.

* She has a sense of purpose. Her purpose is to draw others out, help people connect, and help people feel better. For a couple of decades she and her (now deceased) husband ran a resort in Florida. It was a place where no one was a stranger and guests gathered around the piano for singing. Nothing makes her happier than to connect people. If that weren't purpose enough, she has always done a lot of charitable and funding raising.

* She has a wide variety of interests and activities--including travel, cards, baking, and reading. The variety helps keep the interests fresh and by having a variety if one activity becomes unavailable, she has several others to keep life enjoyable.

* She takes care of herself, with eating well, walking, getting good health care, and being prudent with money. She finds dressing well and always looking good helps her feel good about herself and shows respect to others.

You can stream or download my (free) 50-minute podcast interview with Elsa Hoffman and her granddaughter biographer at []

Found the book to be very inspiring. I think it is so profoundly awesome for a granddaughter to write a book filling in her experiences along w/ her grandmother's. Through my reading of this book, I have learned to look at life's challenges differently. Definitely worth reading.

Thumbs up! We all need this optimistic guide.

Loved the book and it felt like the author was sharing her private diary with us, including interesting and useful thoughts and tidbits about her very active centenarian grandmother Elsa and her influence on her. I found the quotes at the beginning of each chapter to be insightful, delightfully eclectic and interesting. This is a biography and self-help book all rolled into one with humorous anecdotes to keep the reader glued to every page on how to live a long, happy, healthy life. Even for busy working moms like me, you can get something out of just a few pages nightly to make you smile before you go to bed.

The book is marketed to boomers and seniors, but I saw it as inspiring for more age groups. With the exception of a few entertaining and brief "PG" parts, there are lessons for just about any age. Recently I have heard more about the book on [...] (podcast, April 2009), or see the book website [...]

My advice? Get it and also consider giving it as a happy, fun and inspiring gift.

Yes, that is Elsa Brehm Hoffmann at 100 years old on the cover!

Barbara Walters got it right when she interviewed Elsa Brehm Hoffmann on her longevity show "How to Live to 150 - Can You Do It?" Rutgers gal author Textor-Black got it right to give us the secrets of beautiful Elsa's extraordinary long life and positive outlook with this book. After the longevity show, we were all left talking at the water cooler wishing the show had been longer and that we could see more of centenarian sweetheart Elsa! Even more recently, Dr. Thomas Perls, founder and director of The New England Centenarian Study at Boston University (Perls notes it as the world's largest study of centenarians), said on Voice of America (3/19/09 report by F. Elmasry), that centenarians like Elsa (interviewed on same report) are inspiring role models with their positive attitude. Listen to them both on the VOA website. You'll surely become an Elsa fan like me, too!

Now we can know the intimate details of how Elsa has and continues to do it all, and how this has influenced her Baby Boomer granddaughter. This information-packed book is sprinkled with humor, history, photos and food for thought. It's a guide that provides a positive pathway for Boomers, and motivation for Seniors, to live life to the fullest.

America has the most centenarians in the world (95,000 determined in 2008 by US Census Bureau!) by more than double of any country. They may be more spread out than the blue zones identified by a Belgian demographer, but they are also so worthy of our attention. It's nice to learn about one of these precious role models and how she has managed the unique ups and downs of a modern culture so well. This is a great addition to the many helpful books on the market that encourage happy and healthy aging.

By Elsa's example, we see how incorporating small steps of new habits in our lives will make a huge impact on our happiness level and health. There are also classic stories from both Elsa's and her granddaughter's (author's) lives that help us internally absorb the insights shared. These moments go from Elsa's experience with a hyperbaric chamber to the author's humorous and interesting trips internationally. The secrets concentrate on how to live and age positively within "the joys and challenges" of America and the modern world. From allowing yourself some fun like a fad or splurge, from self-care and nutritional choices to having a spiritual base, from saying "No to the Jelly" and saying "Yes" to "Pollyanna and Pixie Dust", to overcoming hardships, Textor-Black explains 48 helpful and inspirational "insights" learned from Elsa.

This guide is a book to save and refer back to for quick reminders, "pick-me-ups" and courage to face issues in your way. It's a book to give as a gift. It's a book that entertains while teaching real life wisdom for our contemporary culture from a modern role model we can all admire. It teaches and inspires and convinces you that it's worth the relatively small efforts to care for body, mind, soul, and loved ones ... and to engage in life full force.

There are books on taking proper care of yourself and books on how to enjoy your life into senior years. This little primer gives you real tips on both. By looking at Elsa as a role model throughout the course of her full life, we are able to grasp many important aspects as handled by a real person that we can admire and emulate. Examples discussed come from both Elsa's life and her granddaughter's, so there are definitely situations easily recognizable to many that people can learn and benefit from.

The book also has interesting tidbits, quotes, facts, photos and humor. It's a book to read more than once, and a book to bring you up when you feel overwhelmed or down. In fact, I'd say with all the concerns and struggling going on for a lot of people in this uncertain economy, this is a book to help start bringing back our confidence and happiness a bit, knowing "this too shall pass." Elsa has made lemons into lemonade throughout her 101 years. She moved an Adirondacks dream to Florida when her husband had health issues in the NY winters. She also found a program to assist her make large apartments into smaller ones during The Great Depression so they would be cheaper to rent and all filled for financial feasibility. Things turned out better than the original plans due to her positivity and persistence.

Seeing how Elsa handles the challenges and makes them work, as well as how she treats people and thinks positively, are extremely helpful to teach us not to waste time living negatively or worrying. We should live well now and always. Elsa is a modern senior we can relate to and learn from, feeling delighted as we get this peek inside how she thinks and acts for happy, fulfilling and healthy living throughout a long life. It's also a nice gift for a loved one or someone who could use a cheerful, fun, useful and uplifting read.

this boook was simply too simple and didn't feel compelling enough to be a page turner or increase knowledge by any sizeable amount..i foolishly thought the book was something it wasn't..and purchased it by mistake..