“Be willing to shed parts of your previous life. For example, in our 20s, we wear a mask; we pretend we know more than we do. We must be willing, as we get older, to shed cocktail party phoniness and admit, 'I am who I am.'”

American author, journalist, and lecturer

Gail Sheehy was an American author, journalist, and lecturer. She is known for her seventeen books and for high-profile magazine writing in outlets such as New York and Vanity Fair. Sheehy helped shape the movement Tom Wolfe called New Journalism, also known as creative nonfiction. In that style, writers used literary techniques such as scene setting, dialogue, and status details, and sometimes entered the story more closely to report a central character’s thoughts.