MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from  Creative Aging  (Vassiliadis & Romer) - Feminism and Creative Aging   Feminism is a word that sets some people’s teeth on edge (visions of bra-burning and man-hating fanatics flash into mind), but there’s really no other word that describes the revolution in attitudes toward women that took place in the 1970s. Feminism, like it or not, has had an enormous impact on aging Baby Boomers as they make life choices for the next span of their existence.   Feminism, defined, simply means the drive toward equality for women in all aspects of personal and professional life. We have not reached true equality—salaries, for instance, still are not equal between men and women—but compared to the households many Baby Boomers were raised in, things have definitely changed.   My mother, for example, did not have a job while my brother and I were growing up. She was there to greet us every day when we got home from school. A physical education teacher bef...

  This excerpt comes from  Helping the Disabled Veteran  (Joanna Romer) Legal Help   Your son Tommy came home from Afghanistan paralyzed, and you’re stymied on how to help him. He’s been living with you and your husband for over a year, and a good part of that time you’ve been trying to get a certain benefit that would help him and your family a great deal. Unfortunately, because of a supposed “hitch” in his service record, that particular benefit does not seem to be available. Tommy says the hitch is an error — but so far you’ve been unable to get it removed. Is there anything you can do? Yes, there is. Paralyzed Veterans of America is an organization that provides competent attorneys to assist in cases just like this. They have litigated hundreds of cases for veterans, helping them to get the benefits they need (Legal Services – Paralyzed Veterans of America). Veterans have the right to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims if their benefits reque...

  Today's story behind the book is about Widow: A Survival Guide for the First Year  by Joanna Romer. From the publisher The late Joanna Romer was one of our first authors, and ultimately she wrote ten books that we published. A professor of journalism, she approached us in our early days with a manuscript for widows and how they could cope with widowhood. It was a subject she knew well, having recently become a widow. With her journalistic instincts, she had tracked down other widows, determined the commonalities, and provide a guide that many have now found helpful during their first year. The book is full of these personal stories that provide the bigger picture for the "map" that Joanna lays out for new widows. How Joanna found us in those early days, I do not remember, and she is not around now to ask. The relationship, however, was symbiotic. She produced books that people wanted to read, and we even, at one point, commissioned her to write one we felt was needed. T...