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Behind The Scenes With Rona Maynard
On the podcast, writer Rona Maynard on how adopting a rescue mutt at age 65 made her a better person.
🎙️This is Season 6 of my [B]OLD AGE podcast. Thank you for listening! I interview authors, experts, and exceptional individuals to reveal the truths about [b]oldly moving from midlife to old age in a society that devalues old people. I also invite my husband on as a frequent guest. He’s a retired physician with a dry sense of humor and he makes me laugh. You can find over 100 previous episodes on Apple podcasts or on my website.
🎙️ Listen to the Nov. 10, 2023 episode of [B]OLD AGE
S6 - EP2: Rona Maynard on How Adopting a Rescue Mutt at 65 Made Her a Better Person
And now, Behind The Scenes of this episode…
When
reached out about coming on the [B]OLD AGE podcast, I was not primed to say yes. I get pitches all the time from PR folk whose clients have written the latest anti-aging book. I never respond. I don’t believe in what is almost always pseudo-science, and anti-aging is not what the podcast is about.But something about Rona’s email caught my attention. For one thing, she’s the older sister of Joyce Maynard, a well-known novelist, so her name was familiar. For another, she used an appealing subject line in her email pitch: “My first dog made me [b]older after 65.” (If you are pitching to be a guest on a podcast, demonstrate that you know what the show is about; it works.)
The rest of her email was just as charming, and I immediately said Yes. She sent me her new book, a memoir titled Starter Dog, and I added it to the stack next to my bed. I love dogs, but I’m not typically a fan of books about dogs. When I eventually dug in, I read it cover to cover, inserting multiple sticky notes.
To my pleasant surprise (though I probably should have guessed), her book is not just about her dog. It’s the story of her life as a young woman and a young wife, her ambitions, her big job as editor-in-chief of Canada’s leading magazine for women, and it’s also a story about searching, at age 65, for her next big thing. Around this time her husband suggested getting a dog. She resisted for several years, then relented. So they adopted Casey, a two-year-old rescue mutt with an appealing personality.
Rona is a beautiful writer, and I love the way she reflects, intertwining her past and her present. But the surprise of the book is how she illuminates that taking Casey for daily walks in her Toronto neighborhood, and adjusting to his ways, ultimately made her a better person. She learns how to be kind (kindness was not stressed when she was growing up in a household full of ambition—something I can relate to), how to appreciate the details of changing seasons and the outdoors (after working at a desk for so many years), how to be patient, and how to live in the moment.
Because of course while she was growing old—eight years pass—her dog was growing older. Casey is now 10 and he’s teaching her how to embrace old age. Just take it one walk, one squirrel, one bowl of dog food (two if you’re lucky), and one day at a time.
🎙️ At timestamp: 31:08
At the very end of the episode, I ask Rona to add anything I may have missed. She offers an insight about the rewards of a 50-year-marriage (something she and I have in common). She says:
“In marriage, two very different people with conflicting desires become this entity known as ‘us.’ And when you are basically well-matched, you will go through a lot of crap together. And a lot of sorrow. Because you do not want to break up ‘us.’”
I was startled, as if Rona were reading my mind. Because it is always a threat, even in a decades-long relationship, that you could lose the “us” you’ve formed. I hope you’ll listen to the whole episode, which is full of smart observations and thoughtful commentary on getting [b]older and better.
Useful Links
Rona writes Amazement Seeker on Substack
Starter Dog: My Path to Joy, Belonging and Loving This World by Rona Maynard (ECW Press, 2023)
Thanks for tuning in to the podcast, whether on Substack or on Apple podcasts where you can easily subscribe.
If you have an idea for a specific guest or topic you’d like to hear this season, please let me know in the comments.
Find over 100 episodes of the podcast on my site, along with complete show notes that include links and more information about each guest and topic.
I enjoyed the podcast. I too have a dog whose real life begins when my husband gets home. Alone with me, he is barely existing. 😂