Success Of ‘Guide To Healthy Aging’ Prompts A Second, Expanded Edition

There’s a name for those of us who have both dependent children and parents nearing the age where they need supervised care.

We’re called “The Sandwich Generation.”

We’re the market that Gail and John Goeller targeted when they put out the first edition of their book “Spokane’s Guide to Healthy Aging.” Now in its second edition, the Goellers’ book has a new title and several expanded sections.

“The Complete Directory for Seniors and their Families,” as it is called, has upped its first printing of 6,000 to nearly twice that (10,000). The call for such a book apparently was that strong.

“We got so many calls from people about what’s available in the community for their parents,” says John Goeller. Other calls, he says, came from “senior themselves who were ready to move out of the house.”

The biggest change in the second edition is in section four, “Housing Alternatives.” Along with nursing homes, low-income rental housing and shared living opportunities, the book lists some 185 “alternatives to nursing homes” within a 100-mile radius of the Spokane area.

Goeller credits the larger printing to people liking what they saw in the first edition. “We both found that having something to show people (made) the response … just so much more positive,” he says.

But that response is worthy, reflecting the obvious effort that went into the book’s publication.

“It’s growing,” Goeller says, “but it’s a lot of work. We spent seven months just putting it together.”

You can find “The Complete Directory for Seniors and their Families” at area bookstores. Or you can order copies from Mature Matters, P.O. Box 20031, Spokane, WA 99204, phone (509) 624-0798. The prices is $12.95.

‘Art’ as life

The paperback version of “The Standoff” by Chuck Hogan (Bantam Books, 336 pages, $6.50) is out. The book, you may recall, is a fictionalized version of the Randy Weaver incident that occurred on a remote spot in North Idaho called Ruby Ridge.

For an immensely readable rendition of the real story, however, pick up a copy of “Every Knee Shall Bow” by Jess Walter. A reporter for The Spokesman-Review, Walter writes with uncommon skill and authority.

The fish cheer

Spokane author and therapist Paul Quinnett achieved a measure of fame with his book “Pavlov’s Trout.” Now he’s back with a sequel-of-sorts: “Darwin’s Bass: The Evolutionary Psychology of Fishing Man” (Keokee Co., 254 pages, $14.95 paperback).

“If you’re a fisherman, ‘Darwin’s Bass’ offers a new understanding about yourself,” says the book’s press packet. “If fishing has hooked a man or woman you love, it is loaded with insight into the motivations that send them out on the water. Either way, ‘Darwin’s Bass’ will hook you with its light-headed humor and uplifting philosophy.”

Native wisdom

If you’ve ever wondered what effect the intermarriage of early American pioneers and the native populace had on the culture of the Pacific Northwest, you might want to pick up a copy of “Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country” by Jennifer S.H. Brown (University of Washington Press, 255 pages, $16.95 paperback).

Brown, a professor history at the University of Winnipeg, researched the records left primarily by officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company. Her emphasis is on those marriages between company men and Indian women and the resulting families, who had few legal rights and were largely considered simply “strangers in blood.”

Words worth

Score, which bills itself as “a magazine of visual choice,” has resumed publication. Formerly of the Bay Area, Score - which specializes in “visual poetry” - is now being published in Pullman.

To order the current issue, which includes works from Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and the United States, send $10 to Craig Hill, 1015 NW Clifford St., Pullman, WA 99163.

Kidding around

The Eastern Washington University Bookstore is holding a “Clifford Party” for children and their parents at 11 a.m. Saturday in the PUB on the Cheney campus. For further information, call 359-2443.

The reader board

Grant Sharp, author of “Job Power: How to Thrive From 9 to 5,” will read from his book at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Auntie’s Bookstore, Main and Washington.

Jennifer Jones, author of “The Complete Books for Parents and Kids: Everything You Need to Know and Then Some,” will read from her book at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Auntie’s Bookstore.

, DataTimes