Starred review from March 7, 2016
When becoming a grandparent invigorated 60 Minutes correspondent Stahl “with new purpose,” she decided to research others’ experiences, and the result is this energetic, informative, and often touching book. In the hands of a less sensitive reporter, it might come across as a study of grandparenting by the one percent; Stahl readily admits that taking flights just to visit her grandchildren is a privilege few Americans share. Instead, she takes pains to profile multi-generational families at a variety of income levels, while also showing how grandparenting can be therapeutic and “curative in a profound way.” It might even be helping the economy—grandparent spending has increased sevenfold in the last decade. Stahl includes stories of generational conflict and her personal regrets as a working mother along with plentiful glimpses of her family’s joys and those of many other families. The statistics are surprising: the median age of new grandmothers in the U.S. is 50 (54 for grandfathers). As Stahl points out, that young age, coupled with longer life spans, represents a large-scale shift in the role of grandparents in U.S. culture. No matter where readers fall in age or experience, this book should top their 2016 reading list of parenting titles. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.
February 1, 2016
Award-winning broadcast journalist Stahl (Reporting Live, 1999) shares the joys of being a grandmother. The author began her career reporting on Watergate and has been a top correspondent for 60 Minutes for the past 25 years. Fortunately, her husband, author and screenwriter Aaron Latham, was able to assume a significant share of the responsibility for their only child, Taylor, leaving Stahl free to pursue her demanding career. In 2011, with the birth of her first grandchild, Jordan, she "was jolted, blindsided by a wall of loving more intense than anything I could remember or had ever imagined." As someone who has covered suicide bombings in Israel and walked the streets of New York City on 9/11, she had considered herself to be unflappable. She experienced what she describes as an infatuation. Startled, she decided to investigate the importance of the role grandparents can play in the lives of their children and grandchildren. They often help financially, of course, and frequently step in as babysitters or even nannies to ease the burden on parents who are both working. "One in ten American children lives with a grandparent," writes Stahl, "and a third of them count on their grandparents as their primary caretakers." For the majority of grandparents, the responsibility is a sought-after joy rather than a burden, and grandparenting often provides a new lease on life for empty nesters. However, in cases of poverty, this may not be the case, especially when grandparents are called upon to assume full parenting and financial responsibilities. For Stahl, it was a second chance to experience the joys of parenting, but she had to continually remind herself not to criticize or give unwanted advice. Through the medium of her own experiences, the author delivers a wise and witty book. A welcome guide for new grandparents and their children looking to savor the joys and navigate the pitfalls of grandparenting.
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November 15, 2015
No surprise: becoming a grandmother occasioned serious reporting for top-notch broadcast journalist Stahl, with insights gleaned from talking with scientists and physicians about the evolutionary role of grandmothers and more.
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