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MAY 2013
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book, and your career in general, is the
breadth of stuff you give advice on. One
minute you’re telling us how to bang in a
fence post, the next you’re outlining a Pilates
regimen. Is there anything you’re bad at?
STEWART:
I’mnot a great downhill skier. I
can cross-country, where you can’t break
anything. I’mnot good at the really physi-
cal yoga. And I’mno good at the Sunday
crossword puzzle. Never have been.
HEMISPHERES:
Living the Good Long Life
is an ambitious undertaking on your part, in
that it goes beyond How to Keep Matching
Sheets Together in the Closet.
STEWART:
It took about three years to
put together. It was a big project and I’m
proud of it. It’s a helpful book, and an
important book. In almost every country
the population is ge ing older. It’s called
the “silver tsunami.” As the population
gets older, we’re going to have problems.
HEMISPHERES:
You’re known as someone
who helps people keep things tidy and nice;
here you’re in more serious territory. Do you
think some of your fans will recoil from this?
STEWART:
If they do, they don’t under-
stand what we’ve been doing. We cover a
tremendous amount of stuff. It’s not all
cooking and entertainment. I’ve wri en
books on gardening. I wrote a book
about how to start a business. These are
important subjects, and I think we’ve
helped people gain confidence and made
their lives richer.
HEMISPHERES:
Yes, but here you’re looking
at stuff like decline, disease, death. Those
aren’t Martha Stewart-y subjects.
STEWART:
They are in a way. Unless
you’re healthy, youwon’t be able to have
all those nice dinner parties.
HEMISPHERES:
One of the things that you
recommend in the book is that people laugh
regularly. Do you consider yourself to be
a funny person?
STEWART:
I’mnot a great joke-teller, but
I do have a sense of humor. I started
thinking about this because of laughter
yoga. This man in India has a programof
just laughing—
hee-hee-hee!
—
and all of
India starts laughing with him.
HEMISPHERES:
You also tell us that feeling
old can be self-fulfilling, which rang true
for me. I’ll be 50 this year, and I feel a bit
washed-up sometimes.
STEWART:
No, you’re not. I went to a
50
th birthday party about 15 years
ago, and someone said, “Oh, you’re just
middle-aged,” which brought the reply
“
Howmany people do you knowwho
are 100?” Well, that’s becoming more
common now. They have tests to see
how long you’re going to live—I think
I’m going to reach 110, unless I get eaten
by a shark or something.
HEMISPHERES:
But it’s easy to feel left
behind, isn’t it, when it comes to things like
pop culture and technology?
THE
HEMI
Q&A:
MARTHA STEWART
STEWART:
It changes so fast. I have in
my pocketbook two BlackBerrys, one for
phone calls and one for email; my new
iPhone, which I love, for tweeting and
Instagram; my Galaxy notepad—have
you seen that? Ohmy gosh, it’s a phone,
a tablet, it has all your games on it, email.
It’s fantastic.
HEMISPHERES:
What else is in your bag?
STEWART:
I have my iPad, my wallet, my
passport, not toomuch cash, credit cards,
a bo le of perfume—what else?—a li le
makeup bag, Post-its for marking things,
sunglasses, my schedule, my herbal
tea ... Ooh, andmy new Samsung Galaxy
camera, which hasWi-Fi, so I can tweet.
HEMISPHERES:
You’ve said you’re getting
more creative as you get older. Are you an
artistic person, as opposed to craftsy?
STEWART:
I built a painting studio for
myself, which I hope to use one of these
days. I’mmore into contemporary art
than I ever have been. I studied art, so
I know all about the OldMasters, but I
never paidmuch a ention to contem-
porary art before, and now I do. I don’t
collect it, but I like to look at it.
HEMISPHERES:
You’re 72 this year—an age
when many people have hung up their boots
to enjoy a bit of leisure time. Have you any
plans to do this?
STEWART:
I have no intention of retiring
anytime soon. I still feel that there are
many things to be done, that my creativ-
ity hasn’t waned, and to be sent out to the
pasture prematurely, for me andmany
others, would be the worst death.
HEMISPHERES:
Finally, what is your stance
on the doily: pro or anti?
STEWART:
We love doilies somuch
that we’ve invented a punch for our
cra s line that creates customdoilies in
circles, squares, ovals and rectangles.
It’s fabulous.
Executive editor
CHRISWRIGHT
lied about
spilling coffee on Stewart’s book: It was beer.
