Vibrant Nation

my bio

I am a writer, speaker, and line dance instructor.I am an advocate for ageless sexuality (see my blog about sex and aging at http://www.NakedAtOurAge.com) and the author of Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty (http://www.joanprice.com/BetterThanExpected.htm) and Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex (coming Spring 2011)

(If you're on Facebook, I hope you'll join my Naked at Our Age fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-at-Our-Age-by-Joan-Price/200965361578?v=wall.)

I'm also a health and fitness author. My latest fitness book is  The Anytime, Anytime Exercise Book: 300+ quick and easy exercises you can do whenever you want!

I had the joy and honor of being married to artist Robert Rice (http://www.robertriceart.com).

my VN interview

• How did you get to where you are now?

  I've led many lives in my 66 years! I was a high school English teacher for 22 years. I became a health & fitness writer and speaker after a near-fatal automobile accident, and in learning to walk again made me realize that I had a mission to share the joy of movement. I became an aerobics instructor, then a line dance instructor after menopause taught me that I'd rather teach at 6 p.m. than 6 a.m. I wrote articles and books about health & fitness.

   Then, at age 57, pow! I fell in love with the artist Robert Rice, age 64, and decided to switch topics to sex & aging. I wrote Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty at age 61. I lost my love to cancer in August 2008, and after putting everything on hold to grieve, I'm emerging to write my next book, Naked at Our Age.

  My book Better Than I Ever Expected was mostly about the joys of senior sex, with a little bit about the challenges. After the book came out, I kept hearing from people by email and in person and in my audiences when I spoke that said, "Well, you know, that’s great you’re having such great sex, but I’m not and here’s why." And so I realized that my next book had to be addressing the problems, really getting into the nitty gritty of "Here’s what’s going on that’s preventing me from having satisfying senior sex. What do I do about it?"

  And I also realized that although the first book was targeted at women almost exclusively, the next one has to be for both men and women because men would say, "I read Better Than I Ever Expected. I learned a lot, but what about us? What about this? What about that?" So for this new book, I’m collecting stories from people age 50 to 80+ who are talking about their own senior and elder sexuality and what's important to them: the hot topics, the issues, the challenges. It can be as huge as sex and cancer, or it can be more like, "I don’t like what I used to like. How do I communicate that to my partner?" and everything in between.

  So I have an interview questionnaire where people can answer it on their own time and think about what they want to say and then send it back to me. To see this questionnaire and participate in it perhaps, they can email me at joan@joanprice.com and I’ll send them a copy. They don’t even have to answer the questions; they can just tell their story in their own way, which some people appreciate.

  I also have several dozen experts who are addressing specific topics in their area of expertise. I don’t claim to know everything about anything, but I do know people who do. So if, for example, there’s a question about erectile dysfunction or difficulty, then I’ve got a couple of experts who are going to address that. Or if it’s vaginal dryness or what to do about not having had sex for 20 years and now wanting to again, or things don’t work the way they used to, any of those I’ve got people to address them.Wonderful experts. Some of them you certainly would have heard of, and others have been working quietly in the academic areas.

  And so I’m putting those together and it’s a very exciting time. The book is called Naked at Our Age, and it’s all about fixing your senior sex life if there are parts of it that are broken.

• How do you see yourself differently now than you did 10 years ago?

  Ten years ago, I was going through a single time of feeling invisible. I felt, "Wait, I still have a lot to give. Why are men just looking past me?" or over my head, which is really easy to do because I’m under five feet tall. But even symbolically they would sort of look past me. And I would think, "How did this happen? Is this over? Have I experienced all the relationships I’m ever going to? All the love I’m ever going to? I have still plenty more to give and to experience and I’m really a very interesting person."

  And then I met Robert and discovered that if at age 57 I could meet my great love, then it’s never too late. If someone had said, "Oh be patient, Joan, you’ll meet him. Just wait until you’re 57." Wait until I’m 57?! Who’d want me when I’m 57?

  I really believe that as we get older we do get wise. We start to put away the things that don’t really matter. And that is freeing. It started to happen with me during menopause when I decided I wasn’t going to teach a 6:00 a.m. step class anymore. So I switched to teaching evening classes, and that opened up a whole new world. I went from teaching aerobics to teaching line dancing, and that’s actually how I met Robert.

  When you look back, you see the pattern of your life and how things that are really precious to you would not have happened had a path not happened, had some obstacles not arisen. As we get older and we can put that in perspective, it helps us meet the challenges we’re facing from here on, because they’re plentiful.

• Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

  10 years from now, I'll be 76. I would like to continue talking about ageless sexuality, giving speeches. Do I want to retire? How does a self-employed person retire? One doesn’t.

  Will I be in a relationship again? I don't know. In one way, it doesn't really matter, because I've experienced great love, and so many people never do. My life on my own is full of emotional riches.

  I have experienced what love is and I take that with me on my path whether I have a partner or not. I know Robert can never be replaced, but I know also that as I move on, I change, I grow, and maybe there will be someone else who is right for that part of my life.

  I couldn’t have said that even a few months ago, I don’t think. For the first year after Robert died, my grief was so profound I could not have thought past it. But we are remarkably resilient, and there’s a life force in us that just comes out as long as we’re doing the work we need to do to understand ourselves and our life journey.

a postcard to my younger self

Love fully, learn from others, be authentic. Read, dance, listen. Try to temper your impatience -- the best is ahead of you, and it can't be rushed.  Treasure every moment, every experience, every snippet of wisdom. Make decisions that support your health. 

my role models

Maya Angelou: She exudes creative aging. She is serene in her acceptance of herself and dedicated to human rights and human dignity. Juanita Brownlee: You haven't heard of her. She's in her 80's, takes my line dance class, and meets every challenge (from knee replacement to widowhood to heart surgery) with humor and optimism.