Lee Gale Gruen

Having developed her own second career after she retired, Lee Gale Gruen has become an expert on helping seniors find fulfillment in their retirement.

Here is her description:

Since retiring at age 60 from my 37-year career as a probation officer, I have become an actress, author, speaker, and blogger. I write a free blog titled “Reinventing Myself in My Retirement” (sign up at: LeeGaleGruen.Wordpress.com), and I give motivational speeches titled “Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement,” both with the goal of helping Baby Boomers, seniors, and those soon to retire find joy, excitement and satisfaction in life after retirement.

The story of my transition from retired probation officer to senior actress has been written about in Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times newspaper, AARP Life Reimagined website, and in Marlo Thomas’s 2014 book, It Ain’t Over…Till It’s Over, which profiles women who have reinvented themselves.

My memoir: Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class, was published  in 2013 and can be purchased at Amazon.com. It starts when I retired and then attended an acting class for seniors with my 85-year-old father for three years. We bonded more than ever as we performed in our class showcases the comedy scenes I wrote.

I went on to become a professional actress, and I shared all my new experiences with my father while sitting beside his bed at the nursing home where he resided in his final years. The screenplay I wrote based on my book is now completed, and I am seeking a producer. I have also had short stories and articles published, the most recent in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Think Possible.

My goal through my blog and public lectures is to inspire and teach Baby Boomers and seniors to identify their passion and use it to reinvent themselves at this stage of their lives. The 50+ demographic makes up 45% of the population in the United States. Life does not have to stop just because a career has ended and children have been launched. You can reinvent yourself as others have done.

Examples include an acquaintance who sings with a barbershop quartet group at public gatherings; Leah Marks who collects pet food donations from manufacturers and distributes them to food banks for pets of the homeless and disadvantaged; or Janet Maker (the creator of this newsletter) who wrote a memoir titled The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Breast Cancer in which she shares her personal experience in order to help other women assess treatment options and become their own advocates.

Contact Lee Gale Gruen at: gowergulch@yahoo.com.  Visit her book and public speaking website at: www.adventureswithdadthebook.com, her acting website at: LeeGaleGruen.com, and her lecture video clip at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cen-dN6SUU&feature=youtu.be.