Has aging finally come of age? Due to elevating longevity and the aging of the Baby Boom generation, more than one third of all Americans are now over the age of 50. For the first time in history, many of them are continuing to flourish and work well past retirement age. At 80, President Joe Biden plans to run for re-election and would be 86 by the time his second term ended. At 81, Martha Stewart recently made a splash on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, while Bruce Springsteen sold out his world tour at 73. What does this mean for our society? Is 50 the new middlescence? Is 70 becoming the new 60? What contributions can older generations provide to society as they start to live longer and with more drive, perspective, and purpose than ever before?
Founder of the Age Wave movement and a key player in the emergence of the Human Potential, Holistic Health, Eldercare and Healthy Aging and Longevity movements, Dr. Ken Dychtwald is the preeminent figure to speak on these issues. As a psychologist, gerontologist, author of 19 books, celebrated public speaker who’s given acclaimed talks to more than two million people worldwide, and successful entrepreneur whose client list has included over half the Fortune 500 list, Dychtwald is widely regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts and visionary thinkers on longevity and aging, and he’s been helping people, companies and governments envision the future for decades.
Now, in his memoir Radical Curiosity, he offers up the chance to foster a more intimate and meaningful dialogue on what it means to age in today’s changing world by taking a self-reflective look at his own life and what he’s learned both about growing up and the importance of leaving a legacy.
Dychtwald examines how curiosity has carried him through every era of his life, from his humble beginnings in Newark, New Jersey, to his years spent at Esalen in Big Sur during the pinnacle of the human potential movement, igniting the holistic health and healthy aging movements and the creation of his company Age Wave through a series of trials and errors. He shares stories and lessons from his own personal journey seeking and finding purpose (again and again), being caught between the Tao and the Dow, overcoming failure and loss, remarrying his wife 40 times, coping with aging and the death of loved ones and the primal role of loving relationships in one’s life.
As Dychtwald explores the arc and legacies of his life through fantastic stories, mind-stretching adventures and his unique encounters with an unusual and impressive cast of characters, readers will get a front row seat to his conversations and experiences with Presidents Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, as well as luminaries such as Betty Friedan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maggie Kuhn, Bucky Fuller, Nelson Mandela, and many more.
We are currently at a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. Just as the Women’s Movement and Sexual Revolution transformed gender and sexuality in America, we are now seeing a transformation for aging. This is a new era, and Dychtwald is the natural leader to usher it in. As no other memoir has done before, Radical Curiosity peels back the curtain on these new challenges and opportunities on aging and longevity as well as Dychtwald’s remarkable journey as a lifelong learner, father, husband, and sought-after thought leader. In doing so, he answers some of our nation’s most pressing questions about the future of longevity and aging, presents a guide to staying curious through all walks and stages of life, and offers a template for a life worth living.
About Ken Dychtwald PhD
As a psychologist, gerontologist, author of 19 books, celebrated public speaker and teacher, successful entrepreneur, documentary filmmaker and CEO of Age Wave, Dr. Ken Dychtwald has been helping people envision their own and the culture’s future for nearly five decades. He has been a key player in the emergence of the Human Potential, Holistic Health, Healthy Aging, Eldercare and Longevity movements and has given presentations to over two million people worldwide at high profile events alongside the likes of Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair, Ronald Reagan, Bucky Fuller, Al Gore, and Bono.
He has been featured on 60 Minutes, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, The New York Times, PBS, CNN, BBC, Fortune, Inc., Time, Forbes, and many other media platforms worldwide. He has served as producer and host of multiple PBS documentaries and specials including “The Boomer Century, “Life’s Third Age” and “Sages of Aging.” His firm Age Wave’s innovative ideas and landmark research have garnered nearly 20 billion media impressions.
Over the years, his client list has included over half the Fortune 500. He has served as a Fellow of the World Economic Forum, has keynoted two White House Conferences on Aging, and is the recipient of the McKinsey Prize for his writing in the Harvard Business Review. Ken has twice received the distinguished American Society on Aging Award for outstanding national leadership and, although he is not a financial advisor, he was honored by Investment Advisor as one of the 35 most influential thought leaders in the financial services industry over the past 35 years. Ken and his wife Maddy are the recipients of the Esalen Prize for their outstanding contributions to “advancing the human potential of aging men and women worldwide.” Ken was recently awarded the President’s Award from the American Society on Aging as well as the Inspire Award from the International Council on Active Aging for his efforts to “make a difference in the lives of older adults worldwide.” He is a Trustee of the XPrize Foundation.
PRAISE FOR RADICAL CURIOSITY
“I have been learning from Ken Dychtwald for years and am convinced that he is today’s most innovative and original thinker on this important subject.”
—President Jimmy Carter
“A masterful storyteller, Ken Dychtwald takes us on the wild, grand adventure of his self-examined life. This is truly a hero’s journey, populated with hippies and presidents, psychology and celebrity, success and failure, and the wisest of lessons.”
—Lisa Genova, PhD. Neuroscientist and best-selling author of Still Alice
“This book soars somewhere between Forrest Gump and Jack Kerouac. It’s part intimate autobiography, part rollicking adventure story, part cultural anthropology. Through his remarkable encounters and unusual cast of characters, Dychtwald gives us a unique window into the spiritual aspirations, moral conflicts, vocational dilemmas, and ups and downs of the pursuit of consciousness expansion and mindful adulthood over the last half century. This is a modern-day Siddhartha story.”
—Michael Murphy, Founder of the Esalen Institute and best-selling author of Golf in the Kingdom
“Driven by the engines of curiosity, compassion and continual self-improvement, Ken Dychtwald has emerged as one of the world’s leading pathfinders for untapping human potential – at every stage of life. In Radical Curiosity, we are given a front row seat to Dychtwald’s encounters with remarkable people and life lessons regarding love, family, money, work, risk-taking, success, aging and death. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand how a truly revolutionary thinker goes about trying to change the world.”
—Peter H. Diamandis, MD, Founder, XPRIZE, Executive Chairman, Singularity University, and best-selling author of Abundance, BOLD and The Future Is Faster Than You Think
“Ken Dychtwald maps out where success intersects with meaning to find your own unique crossing.”
—Deepak Chopra, MD, Founder, The Chopra Center and best-selling author of Ageless Body, Timeless Mind and You are the Universe