No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper on Aging and Disability

Falk-Allen follows up Not a Poster Child with an enthusiastic if rambling collection of stories from her life as a world traveler and polio survivor. Falk-Allen’s approach to enjoying travel as a “wild handicapper”—in her case, as someone who walks with an assistive device and has limited stamina—focuses on planning and understanding what to expect upon arrival at one’s destination, particularly researching accessibility options, packing light, and sticking to a budget. She offers plenty of colorful accounts of places she’s visited—Egypt, India, Ireland, and Israel among them—though her travel advice is based on her own onetime experiences, some up to 40 years ago, such as her hotel and restaurant recommendations from a trip to New Delhi in the 1980s. The book’s second part flips erratically between advice for caregivers of aging parents and for aging readers themselves concerning ambulatory difficulties, dealing with changes in one’s capabilities, and developing a partnership between the caregiver and the person needing assistance: “being positive but realistic and, most of all, determined and disciplined can reap unexpected rewards.” It’s all a bit shaggy, but the author’s infectious sense of adventure will appeal to those struggling with aging and disability. (June)