Good Grandpa – Ted Page

The Retirement Wisdom Podcast

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I’ve just completed my second year as a grandfather. Like anyone finishing their sophomore year, I know twice as much as I did a year ago, but still have a lot to learn. In my quest to learn more, I came across this article in the New York Times – How to be a Better Grandfather – and discovered Ted Page. When he became a grandfather at 55, he looked online for guidance and discovered – well, not much. So he created the website and blog Good Grandpa. Ted’s writing a book that’s coming out next year sharing stories and wisdom from grandfathers on the #1 thing they’ve learned that will help nurture the next generation.

Ted Page joins us from Massachusettts.

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Bio

Ted Page is the creator and editor of Good Grandpa.

Ted Page is a storyteller, performer and marketing executive. His non-fiction stories have appeared in Boston Magazine and the Boston Sunday Globe Magazine, and his book of true family stories, The Willoughby Chronicles, was published by 3 Swallys Press in 2017. Ted is a Co-Founder of Captains of Industry, a leading boutique marketing consultancy based in Boston. Ted won a Telly award for The Institute for Back-up Trauma, starring John Cleese—who looks stunning in a red dress. Ted and his colleagues at Captains of Industry created The Climate Declaration for CERES, which was signed by over 1,700 corporations globally including Apple, Nike, Starbucks, GM and Levis. Ted lives outside Boston with his wife, Nancy, who continues to put up with him after 35 years. They have two children and four grandchildren.

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For More on Ted Page

GoodGrandpa.com

What’s the #1 thing you’ve learned that can help the next generation? Contact Ted Page: [e-mail]

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Mentioned in This Episode

The Parrot Sketch

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Podcast Episodes You May Like

The Long Distance Grandparent – Kerry Byrne PhD

The Mindful Grandparent – Dr. Shirley Showalter

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Wise Quotes

On the Next Generation

“The mission of the blog is to nurture the next great generation. So I’m a Boomer, sort of at the tail end of the Baby Boomers, born in 1959. And for us, we always just kind of looked up to our parents as what Tom Brokaw had dubbed the Greatest Generation. He wrote this terrific book, The Greatest Generation, and that’s very understandable. They won World War II, they survived The Great Depression. They were great. They were fantastic. And I revered my father and mother. I revered the one grandfather that I knew. But when I saw these little kids starting to appear on the scene, our grandkids, I thought: What if they’re going to be the greatest generation of all time? And what can we do to help them become the greatest generation, not just here in the United States, but around the world. We have tools that our parents didn’t have.”

On Continuous Learning

“But then of course, I said, Well, John, let me tell you what I’m up to. I’m writing a book and I’m gathering wisdom from elders and asking everyone what the number 1 piece of wisdom is – and he just jumped in and he said, ‘Well, that’s easy. I’ll tell you.’ And I’m like: Great! Mr. John Cleese, one of the greats, is going to share his number one thing. And he said: ‘It’s more important to find the truth that it is to know the truth.’ And when I asked him to unpack that a little bit, he said, well, Newtonian mathematics and physics was accepted without question for hundreds of years. And that along comes Einstein, and it’s all upended. And then just within Einstein’s life, there’s quantum physics. It’s the constant learning that matters. It’s the seeking the truth. And sometimes when you believe something’s the truth, it blocks you off from continuous learning and exploration. So that conversation with John was kind of back to back with interview with Tom Brokaw at the early stages of writing this book, which is not coming out until a little bit later in 2025. But my process changed for writing the book because it’s about seeking. It’s about the learning versus me saying, look, here’s the truth, because we can all find our own truth in this, the one that matters most to us.”

On Wisdom

“And we were down in the water by the beach, and I had just found out I was going to be a grandfather. So just in passing, talking to Aunt Lois who’s wearing these big pink sort of Jackie Onassis sunglasses, I said, Lois, how can I be a better grandfather? And she didn’t skip a beat. She just said: ‘Be there for them.’ And it’s interesting you used the word distilled wisdom earlier, because I was thinking, that’s just the first part of what she’s going to tell me, right? There’s going to be this whole speech after this. And I kept waiting and she said: ‘No, just be there.’ A lot of times the people who have the best wisdom say it in fewer words….I owe a gratitude to Aunt Lois, and to all the grandmothers out there, because it is one thing to hear something. It’s another thing to actually listen. And I hope that everyone has a chance to listen to Aunt Lois.”

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About Retirement Wisdom

I help people who are retiring, but aren’t quite done yet, discover what’s next and build their custom version of their next life. A meaningful retirement doesn’t just happen by accident. Schedule a call to discuss how The Designing Your Life process created by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans can help you make your life in retirement a great one – on your own terms.

About Your Podcast Host

Joe Casey is an executive coach who also helps people design their next life after their primary career and create their version of The Multipurpose Retirement.™ He created his own next chapter after a twenty-six-year career at Merrill Lynch, where he was Senior Vice President and Head of HR for Global Markets & Investment Banking. Today, in addition to his work with clients, Joe hosts The Retirement Wisdom Podcast, which thanks to his guests and loyal listeners, ranks in the top 1 % globally in popularity by Listen Notes, with over 1.2 million downloads. Business Insider has recognized Joe as one of 23 innovative coaches who are making a difference. He’s the author of Win the Retirement Game: How to Outsmart the 9 Forces Trying to Steal Your Joy.