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Dick Bolles is about to turn 80 in late March. If you want to send Dick note, jot one down and mail to me at JobDig, 5051 Highway 7, Minneapolis, MN 55416. I will package them up all up and send them directly to him.

For those of you who don’t know, before Dick started writing What Color is Your Parachute? there was not even a career section in the bookstores. Nearly every book and article written about jobs-careers can trace its origin back to Dick’s writings.

Here is poem Dick wrote recently to his friends:

ON BEING JUST ABOUT TO TURN EIGHTY

I’m healthy, and I feel just fine.

Haven’t got much on my mind.

(sigh) How I wish that I could say

that I remember every day

Since I was born in twenty seven,

(some times were hell, and some were heaven.)

Well, “Ignore the bad, and mark the joy”

—My credo since I was a boy.

My ally: Memory—a clever scribe,

Knows what to keep, and what to hide.

I wake up ev’ry morning, now, thinkin’ ’bout this reason

I’m still here, on Earth. Alive. Especially this Season.

I died, you know,–two thousand three–but at His Mighty Word,

Came back! So risen-me just loves to think of Him, my risen Lord.

We just put up His Christmas tree, and then we hanged His wreathe

And let the frosty air come in–it’s such a joy to breathe,

It’s such a joy to love to write new books, to put upon your shelf.

I thank God for this magic that He calls, quite simply, “Life.”

I thank Him most especially for my dear, precious, wife,

Marci. I’ve been blest, there is no doubt,

I’m growing, still, I’m learning, still, what Life is all about.

Looking back: some Years I don’t–I don’t remember much,

But when I see your name I feel, yes! more than just a touch

Of gratitude, love, empathy, and never mind the year.

It means a lot for me to know, mid-Age, that you’re still here.

Well, I must end this verse, I guess, before it gets real sappy.

But oh, dear friend, I hope you too are really, really happy.

~RNB, Christmastime, 2006

Note: Dick Bolles turns 80 on March 19, 2007