<p>Betty Jane Wylie&#39;s Endings is not to be taken lightly, though its tone is deceptively light and its style lively and conversational. She extracts interesting anecdotes and observations from her long, well-lived life and asks serious questions: How do we live as old people? As old women? What can we expect? How do we handle the time that is left?&nbsp; Eighty-eight year old Wylie tackles these subjects thoughtfully, but also with humour and charm. You won&#39;t just enjoy this book; if you&#39;re approaching this stage of life, you will find it both salutary and richly entertaining. Endings is a valuable contribution to the literature about and by aging people. - Sharon Butala</p><p>Short-listed three times for a Governor-General&#39;s Award; author of Season of Fury and Wonder.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>'While demographic studies tell of our aging population, most people--and governments&ndash;barely acknowledge this shift. Shortly before his death in 43 B.C., the Roman writer Cicero meditated on old age in De Senectute, a classic recently translated as How to Grow Old. This challenging subject now occupies many contemporary writers in their so-called &#39;golden years&#39;, with popular new memoirs from Diana Athill, Donald Hall and Roger Angel offering intimate accounts of their dilemmas and solutions. In Endings: A Book for Almost Everyone, Betty Jane Wylie, the Canadian non-fiction writer, playwright and blogger, adds her warm-hearted but wry voice to an important growing genre. Admirers of Wylie&#39;s work will recognize her compassionate approach to life&#39;s struggles, while readers new to her will enjoy the frank, hard-won wisdom of a woman who looks at life clear-eyed. Old age, she tells us, takes &#39;guts and grace&#39;, which is also a good description of this memoir. - Richard Teleky, Professor of Humanities at York University and author of Ordinary Paradise: Essays on Art and Culture</p>