Legacy is about who we are and how we will be remembered. In this thought-provoking book, bestselling author Lyndsay Green compels us to think about our legacy and consider how we would feel if we knew our life would soon be over. We assume that we’ll have time to think about our legacy; time to compose meaning for our lives; time to figure out our life’s purpose; time to make amends; time to clean up our messy lives.

But what if we don’t? Would our time on Earth have made a difference to anyone or anything? What would we be leaving behind for those we love? What responsibilities would be left dangling? Green’s premise is that living with an eye to a future without us both enhances our present and shapes our legacy. With this awareness, we can lead inspired and fulfilled lives.

Green examines the multiple facets that form a legacy, both material and non-material—from living a conscious life that makes a contribution, to writing our wills and recording our lives. She intersperses stories about struggles to align lives with values and efforts to write equitable wills, with eclectic tales about bequeathing tattoos and legacy bots using artificial intelligence so our digital selves can live forever.

She wrote this book for people of all ages because our one precious life could end any day, and she offers insights for everyone regardless of assets. Her findings emphasize that since we’ll be leaving a legacy—like it or not—we’d be wise to pay attention to what it will be.

LYNDSAY GREEN is a pioneering sociologist who spent her career helping people use communications technologies for learning, working with groups as diverse as the World Bank, the National Film Board and the Inuit of Canada. She has turned her research skills and knowledge of new technologies to finding out what boomers should be doing to ensure they have a successful old age. The American textbook Computers and Information Systems calls Ms. Green an “information agent of the future.” Peter Mansbridge interviewed Lyndsay for his CBC show One on One and had this to say about You Could Live a Long Time: “It’s full of advice, really good advice, that you’ll be grateful you took when you hit those golden-plus years.”

Lyndsay Green's profile page