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Judy Goldman

Judy Goldman Reflects on the Stages of Life in Her New Memoir 

April 20, 2025 by Mark West
Categories: Storied Charlotte

The Rest of Our Lives, Judy Goldman’s new memoir, grew out of Judy’s response to turning eighty, but it is not really an account of the trials and tribulations of being an older person in contemporary America. Instead, Judy focuses The Rest of Our Lives on the many connections between her past experiences and her current life. As she stated in a recent interview, “Life is simply a series of passages where you find yourself in new, uncharted territory. You can almost connect the dots, see how that final stage of life is similar to all the previous stages.”  By focusing on the ways in which her past and her present experiences interrelate, Judy shows how key moments in her life have prepared her to face the challenges associated with old age.  

In many ways, however, The Rest of Our Lives, is not limited to the particularities of Judy’s life.  If it were, the book would not include the words “our lives” in the title.  Judy’s new memoir provides all readers with insights on navigating the life passages that we all face as we age. Throughout her memoir, Judy invites readers to reflect on the meaning of their own experiences.

Given Judy’s interest in writing a book that relates to all of “our lives,” it is not surprising that the book is tied to her experiences as a writing teacher at Charlotte Lit and elsewhere.  When commenting on how she came to write The Rest of Our Lives, she specifically mentions how working with her students inspired her to write this memoir: 

At 80, I felt I’d written everything I had to write. What was left? I was sad to give up writing. Writing keeps me nice. If I’m not writing, you don’t want to be around me. But then it came to me: If I tell students in my memoir workshops, “Write about what keeps you up at night,” I need to take my own advice. I was thinking a lot about aging. I needed to write about it.

The official launch of Judy’s The Rest of Our Lives will take place at Park Road Books on May 6 at 7:00 pm. For more information about this free event, please click on this link: https://www.parkroadbooks.com/event/judy-goldman-discusses-her-new-book-rest-our-lives

For more information about Judy and her books, please click on the following link:  http://judygoldman.com/

In thinking about Judy’s The Rest of Our Lives, I am reminded of Erik Erikson’s “Eight Ages of Man” chapter from his book Childhood and Society. In this chapter, Erikson writes about the “life cycle” and the road to becoming “a mature adult.” In Erikson’s model, mature adults who achieve “ego integrity” during their late adulthood find meaning and satisfaction in their lives, and often become known for their general “wisdom.” In pre-industrial societies, people would often turn to their village elders for wise advice on dealing with life’s challenges. Well, Storied Charlotte is a far cry of a pre-industrial village, but we still have our own wise village elder, and her name is Judy Goldman. 

Tags: Judy Goldman

The Charlotte Center Is Bringing Wiley Cash to the McColl Center 

September 01, 2024 by Mark West
Categories: Storied Charlotte

About a week ago, I received an email message from Rebecca Tanner, the Managing Director of the Charlotte Center for the Humanities & Civic Imagination (more commonly known at the Charlotte Center).  She asked me if I could help promote an upcoming event.   She explained that are hosting Wiley Cash in conversation with Judy Goldman on the topic “Does modern literature have anything to say?”  Of course I said yes.  

Here is the specific information about the event.  It will take place on Tuesday, September 17, 2024, from 6:30-8:00 at the McColl Center, 721 N. Tryon Street.  A book signing will follow the program.  Tickets cost $25 and are available here.

I asked Rebecca for more details about the event and its speakers, and she sent me the following information:

Does modern literature have anything to say? What are the compelling stories speaking to our times? One of literature’s great Southern authors addresses the question. Wiley is a thoughtful, engaging, humorous speaker that you do not want to miss!

Wiley Cash is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of four novels, the founder of This Is Working, an online creative community, and host of the Our State Book Club podcast. He’s the recipient of many literary awards, including the Thomas Wolfe Book Prize, Southern Book Prize, and the American Library Association Book of the Year.

Published in 2021, Cash’s novel When Ghosts Come Home was a national bestseller and one of Amazon’s top 20 books of the year. The Last Ballad, published in 2017, received numerous awards as best book of the year. 

He currently teaches creative writing and literature at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. He holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from UL-Lafayette, an M.A. in English from the University of  North Carolina-Greensboro, and a B.A. in Literature from UNC-Asheville.

Moderated by Judy Goldman

Judy Goldman is the author of seven books – three memoirs, two novels, and two collections of poetry. Her latest memoir, Child: A Memoir, was named a must-read by Katie Couric Media. Goldman has been published in The Southern Review and Kenyon Review. She has many literary awards, including the Hobson Award for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters.   

My thanks go to Rebecca for reaching out to me. My thanks also go to The Charlotte Center for the Humanities & Civic Imagination for organizing this event.  Founded by Mark Peres in 2020, the Charlotte Center has quickly become an important voice for the humanities on our Storied Charlotte community. 

Tags: Judy GoldmanWiley Cash
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