John Leland was be in Rochester on Monday, September 26, 2022 to discuss his time spent visiting with and writing about those six older New Yorkers and the lessons in resilience, joy, purpose, gratitude, and acceptance he learned from them along the way. He explained why he thinks older people are more content than older adults.

In his 30-plus years in journalism, John Leland has gone from chronicling youth culture to writing about the “oldest old.” A graduate of Columbia College, he worked as a senior editor at Newsweek and editor-in-chief of Details magazine before joining The New York Times in 2000.

In 2015, he wrote a year-long series following six people age 85 and up, which became the basis for his book “Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year among the Oldest Old,” a New York Times bestseller. As he wrote in the Times, “No work I have ever done has brought me as much joy and hope, or changed my outlook on life as profoundly.”

John is also the author of two previous books: “Hip: The History” and “Why Kerouac Matters.”

Listen to John’s interview with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly to find out more about John’s work exploring “Happiness” later in life.