Do We Dare Talk About STATUS?

Thought leader Carl Honore and I did, and you can listen in!

Photo credit: Finn on Unsplash

I don’t have a copy of the first message I left on Carl Honore’s “Contact” form, but I had a sense of the kind of guy he was based on his writing and the look of his website.

I do have a copy of his response:

Thanks for writing! You’re right: I am the kind of guy who reads messages like the one you sent…

Relationships, even distant ones with slim common ground — in this case, journalism — build slowly once both parties are willing to stay connected. After that first email exchange, we sent emails about our mutual missions: exposing ageism and telling new stories about “the Old.”

I was a little in awe of his professional accomplishments, but I’m no slouch either. I’m also 81, I have a good track record with people, and I expect them to be receptive until I’m proven otherwise. My motto: If you don’t ask, you don’t get. So I suggested we escalate our budding relationship with a Zoom date.

Carl in person (via video) is what I would expect from someone who’s given three TED talks and churned out multiple books: wise, warm, and often witty — and, to stick with the W theme — a wordsmith. I like that in a human!