Edited by
CONNIE WATKINS BALES
CHRISTINE SEEL RITCHIE

2009

We opened the first edition of this handbook with a preface highlighting the unique challenges of the new millennium resulting from ‘‘successful aging’’ and reduced birth rates of the twentieth century. We emphasized, along with the ‘‘graying globe’’, the diversities of aging with regard to the influence of geographic location, gender, economic status, and even age (younger versus older old age).