Bruce Hobler will be signing copies of his book, ‘From Where I Sit,” at Turning Pages Book Lounge in Millville on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
Bruce Hobler of Ocean View, in writing his second book, stuck to the adage telling authors to “write what you know.”
Hobler, 86, figures he knows a thing or two about “this journey called aging.” His new book, “From Where I Sit,” is a kind of guidebook for navigating one’s later years.
“It’s meant to be inspirational and instructional,” he said of the book.
Hobler does not only call on his own life experience, though. In the course of researching and writing “From Where I Sit,” he interviewed more than 50 people — including friends from his church and “acquaintances who understand the ups and downs of aging,” he said.
He is no stranger to the writing process, having co-written his first book, “Willy’s Neighborhood,” about Willy Cannon — a local man he befriended as Cannon fought a five-year battle with ALS. Hobler read books and newspapers to Cannon for three years, until Cannon passed away in 2015. After Cannon died, he and Cannon’s wife, Mary, collaborated on the book that told “the story of Willy.”
“From Where I Sit,” like the Cannon book, is self-published. Hobler said he kept it short and easy to read on purpose, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a meaningful book. In it, he calls upon his interviewees — who ranged in age from 30 to 101 — to answer questions ranging from “What is a common fear?” to “What makes life significant for you?”
Hobler said in the book that his oldest subject, Gordon Shull, “exemplified the definition of living a full life and enjoying it.”
His youngest subject, 30-year-old Charley, added a bit of humor with his answer to the question “Do you consider older people grouchy?” Charley’s answer: “No, I think the grouchy population are those in their 50s.”
Sam, a young attorney that Hobler asked the same question, said he thinks “grouchiness is evenly distributed across all ages.”
Even though he is currently navigating recovery from a back fracture, Hobler maintains a positive attitude. While he acknowledges that “it’s not like my days of high school playing sports,” he is pursuing physical therapy and pain management therapy, “and all of that helps out.”
He said he has been a student of the human psyche since college, but in the book he talks about how his outlook on life was shaped by being an only child of older parents, who spent more time alone or with adults than with children his age.
Hobler’s hope is that readers will benefit from his efforts to bring a new perspective to the aging process.
“The point is that life does not have to be miserable,” he said.
“Being active is the best antidote to old age there is,” Hobler added. “Sitting around is a guaranteed way to get depressed.”
Now that “From Where I Sit” is finished, Hobler is starting to write “the story of my life, with some exceptions,” he said with a sly grin.
He retired in 2010 and moved to Sussex County with his wife, Ann. He began his career in social work in the field of the mentally challenged. In 1970, he was appointed clinical director of Maryland’s first comprehensive center for mentally challenged children.
Hobler moved to Delaware in 1976 to take the position of bureau chief of juvenile corrections. Later in his career, he was appointed director of education for the Delaware Department of Correction.
Hobler will be signing copies of “From Where I Sit” at Turning Pages Book Lounge in Millville from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25.
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