A conversation with authors and UAlbany alumnae Lyn Slater and Sari Botton.

Lyn Slater, UAlbany alum, is a 71-year-old social media influencer with almost a million followers across all platforms. She started her acclaimed fashion and style blog, “Accidental Icon,” in 2014, and is widely celebrated for her “rules-are-meant-to-be-broken” attitude regarding aging, style and beauty.

Her new book is How to Be Old: Lessons in Living Boldly from the Accidental Icon (2024), one of Elle's “Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of 2024.” Bestselling author Dani Shapiro said, “In equal parts inspirational and aspirational, Lyn Slater’s How to Be Old is a rousing, thrilling ride of a book…. Slater’s combination of curiosity, glamour, and activism will make readers of all ages take heart.”
Sari Botton, UAlbany alum, is the creator of Oldster Magazine, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers. Her newest book is And You May Find Yourself...Confessions of a Late-Blooming Gen-X Weirdo (2022), a memoir in essays about “the joys and pains of being a misfit” (Publishers Weekly).

The book was chosen for the annual “5 over 50” feature in Poets & Writers magazine. A former editor at Longreads, Botton also edited the bestselling essay collections, Goodbye to All That: Writers on Loving and Leaving New York (2021), and Never Can Say Goodbye: Writers on Their Unshakable Love for New York (2014).

6:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Performing Arts Center Recital Hall
1400 Washington Avenue Albany NY 12222

The public is invited to a reception with light refreshments immediately following the event.
Registration required for reception only: https://www.alumni.albany.edu/s/1642/bp18/interior-wide.aspx?sid=1642&gid=2&pgid=4654&content_id=10637

A celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the School of Social Welfare’s Internships in Aging Project (IAP) at the University at Albany, a program founded to address the critical need for geriatric social workers. The program collaborates with agencies that provide services to older adults in the Capital District and the rural northeastern region of New York State. Cosponsored by the School of Social Welfare, College of Integrated Health Sciences, and Albany Guardian Society.