Opening General Session: An Afternoon with Maya Angelou—Aging in America Thursday, March 27 – 3:30-5:30 pm

The opening session of the conference is sure to engage your senses! Maya Angelou, remarkable poet, historian, author, actress, playwright, civil-rights activist, producer and director, will share her unique views on life and aging. Nearly 80, she is a mesmerizing vision of grace, and captivates her audiences lyrically with vigor, fire and perception.

Dr. Maya Angelou is hailed as one of the great voices of contemporary black literature and as a remarkable Renaissance woman. She has authored twelve best-selling books and numerous magazine articles earning her Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominations. She was among the first African-American women to hit the bestsellers lists with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, a chronicle of her life up to age sixteen, which was published in 1970 with great critical and commercial success.

In 1993, Dr. Angelou became the second poet in U.S. History to have the honor of writing and reciting original work at the Presidential Inauguration. On the Pulse of Morning, at Bill Clinton's presidential inauguration, was an occasion that gave her wide recognition for which she was awarded a Grammy award (best spoken word).

Join us for the opening session, and plan to be invigorated and inspired!

Plenary Session 1
Focus on 2008 Election and Aging Issues
Sunday, March 30 – 8:30-10:00 AM

The country is in the midst of the most exciting elections in decades. The outcome of these elections will have profound implications for older Americans. In anticipation of the coming “age wave,” policymakers will increasingly focus on the future of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, long-term care and other programs for seniors.  Our presence in the nation’s capital provides us with a unique opportunity to hear from leaders who will be making decisions on key policy issues.

This closing plenary will include representatives of the presidential candidates, who will discuss positions and priorities on key aging issues facing the nation.  Thus far, Neera Tanden, Director of Policy for Senator Clinton, and Nancy Altman, Retirement Security Policy Committee member for Senator Obama, have agreed to speak.  We are still waiting to confirm a representative from Senator McCain's campaign. 

This session will also feature E.J. Dionne, Jr., one of the most highly respected, thoughtful political columnists in the country.  A frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio, CNN, ABC's "This Week," and NBC's "Meet the Press," Dionne began his twice-weekly op-ed column on national policy and politics for The Washington Post in 1993 and now appears in more than 90 newspapers.  He has authored several books, including the recently released Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith and Politics After the Religious Right. 

Plenary Session 2
Gail Sheehy, Best-Selling Author and Speaker
Uncharted Passage: The Caregiving Crisis in America
Sunday, March 30, 10:00 – 11:30 AM

In 1976 Gail Sheehy published Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life, which remained on the New York Times Best Seller list for three years. The book was wildly popular because no matter what "passage" one was in when they read it, Passages helped readers chart a course for the future. Until today. Fast forward 30 years, and Gail Sheehy finds herself once again researching a predictable crisis in America—our fractured system of eldercare. She will be writing from her own experience and serving—as she’s been called—as America’s emotional tour guide.

This session will include a dialogue with Gail and thought leaders from the field of caregiving, as they discuss the whitewaters and rapids of caregiving that today provide little opportunity for finding a clear navigational route. She will talk about her developing concept of the many stages of caregiving, ranging from shock and immobilization to reclaiming one's own life. Holding up a mirror to the crisis in caregiving, she will confront the realities for caregivers, and those for whom they are caring, as they go from crisis to crisis. This session is a "must hear" for all professionals who work with older adults, and will serve as a "call to action".
Joining Gail in an engaging dialogue that will include audience questions and answers will be four members of the ASA Board of Directors:

• Robyn Golden, Director of Older Adult Programs, Rush University Medical Center, and 2006-2008 Chair of the ASA Board of Directors
• Kathy Brandt, Vice President, Professional Leadership, Consumer and Caregiver Services, National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
• Louis Colbert, Director, Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging
• Lynn Friss Feinberg, Deputy Director, National Center on Caregiving, Family Caregiver Alliance, and Heinz Senate Fellow in Aging

Gail Sheehy also is the author of Sex and the Seasoned Woman: Pursuing the Passionate Life; a much-quoted biography of Hillary Clinton, Hillary’s Choice; Understanding Men's Passages, The Silent Passage, Pathfinders; and Middletown, America: One Town’s Passage from Trauma to Hope; among others. As a literary journalist, Sheehy was one of the original contributors to New York magazine. A contributing editor to Vanity Fair since 1984, she won the Washington Journalism Review Award for Best Magazine Writer in America for her in-depth character portraits of national and world leaders, including both Presidents Bush, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Margaret Thatcher, Saddam Hussein, and Mikhail Gorbachev. Sheehy is a seven-time recipient of the New York Newswomen's Club Front Page Award for distinguished journalism. Other honors include the National Magazine Award, the Penny-Missouri Journalism Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Race Relations for her book, Spirit of Survival. She is one of the founders of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women.