Reviews and Comments

I listened to the audiobook version as it was read by the author, which I would highly recommend!

Betty Reid Soskin was America’s oldest national park ranger until she retired in 2022 at the age of 100. She was born in New Orleans to a creole family and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area as a child. This is her life story and she is a wonderful storyteller with so much to say.

I particularly loved hearing her talk about growing up in Oakland, and then hearing her tell what it was like when they lived in the suburbs during the 50’s and 60’s and were the only back people in their neighborhood.

She later returns to the East Bay.

She’s also very honest about her personal challenges - unhealthy relationships, trying to help a son who was gay during a time when that was much more difficult than it is today, her own mental health, and what it feels like to grow old.

She has had a remarkable life and has witnessed so much history! This book is based off her blog, so it doesn’t flow as one narrative but as a series of vignettes, and although it was published in 2018 she seems to have recorded the narration in her 80’s.