Yolen, a prolific writer who turned 60 this year, notes that older people often are amazed when they look in a mirror and see the wrinkled face reflected back at them. Yet the gray heroes in folk tales do not often wrestle with such problems. Perhaps it is because we catch them in the middle of an adventure. Elderly people who are wise or tricksters aren't such a stretch for the imagination, Yolen notes. Some people are heroes.
Some people have adventures.
As for Yolen herself, she says that writing keeps her young. The author of more than 100 children's books, Yolen is constantly working on several projects at once. I think that, for any artist, you must keep stretching, or you die. If only I were as flexible in my body as I am in my mind.