Don Kuhl with his book on Sept. 2.
Photo by Scott Neuffer.
“We all have one thing in common,” writes Washoe Valley resident Don Kuhl in the opening to his new book. “We’re getting older — and that’s a good thing.”
The book, published this month by Health Communications Inc., is called “Changing with Aging: Little Stories, Big Lessons.” It’s made up of 10 topical chapters that read like memoir but highlight practical life lessons.
Gina Lopez, executive director of the Brewery Arts Center, reviewed the book positively for its release.
“As someone who finds herself at war with aging, Don’s comforting thoughts, new
ideas and experiential insights are helping me to embrace the inevitable,” Lopez wrote.
Kuhl’s life mirrors his writing: frank but eventful.
“My early years really drove the passion I had for positive lifestyle changes,” he said during an interview Sept. 2.
Born in Iowa, Kuhl, now 77, said he was “kind of a troubled kid.”
“There was a lot of alcohol and drug use,” he said. “I hitchhiked across the country.”
He also flunked out of his second year of college. When he picked himself up and returned to school, it was a psychology professor who “took me under his wing.” Soon enough, drawn to psychology and literature, he earned a master’s degree in higher education administration. He became a college administrator, and a stint at an experimental school at Lake Tahoe first introduced him to the region.
“It was a great learning experience for me,” he said. “I’ve always been kind of paying it back.”
In 1988, Kuhl started The Change Companies, “a publishing company that provides behavioral change materials.”
Kuhl explained the company works with universities on behavioral research and provides programs for hospitals and treatment centers, specifically interactive journaling. To date, they have around 4,000 clients in the U.S. and have sold more than 30 million journals, he said.
“Patients back then didn’t really get involved with their own treatment,” he said, referring to his own hardships as a youth. “But you can’t change without self-change.”
Kuhl sold The Change Companies with the condition he work for the new owner for a year, and he recently finished his contractual obligation. Over the last year and a half, he wrote “Changing with Aging.”
“I’ve always had this love of focusing on storytelling,” he said. “Everyone has a story, and this one happens to be mine.”
Through his own stories and reflections, Kuhl encourages readers to cherish good memories, to keep things silly and have fun as one gets older.
“Some people wait for a big change in their lives,” he said, “but the little choices we make every day make us who we are.”
Though levity abounds, Kuhl pointed to the last chapter that addresses how challenging aging can be. He said those in their 70s start dealing with serious health issues. Kuhl himself has had both hips replaced, a “widow maker” heart attack, and multiple back surgeries.
“It really takes courage,” he said. “You got what you got, and you got to forget about what you lost.”
Perhaps the hardest thing about aging, he said, is losing people along the way.
“As you grow old, you develop courage, the hard skin you need sometimes to move on to the next day,” he said.
Kuhl appears to be aging with this kind of scrappy grace. He said besides writing, he’s been helping his children with businesses, donating to worthy causes in Carson City, and will be, as health allows, volunteering where he can.
“Changing with Aging” is available at Amazon and other book retailers.
