Lessons From the Lives of Celebrated Musicians: What Armstrong, Cash, Dylan, Ellington, Fitzgerald, and Sinatra Can Teach Us About Creative Resilience and Aging.

For a decade the author has delivered presentations using techniques from the humanities, principally biography, to elucidate themes of creative resilience and aging in the lives of well-known musicians, illustrated with excerpted images, audio clips, and videos. The goal has been to stimulate discussions about the potential for creative growth in later years, even in the face of the professional and personal setbacks inevitable in the course of life, with implications for clinical work with older adults and for ourselves as we age. This summary describes key take-home points that have recurred across these varied artists' stories and the interactions they have sparked with audiences and colleagues.