LOS ANGELES (August 31, 2021) – Florence LaRue, six-time GRAMMY-Award winner and lead singer of legendary group The 5th Dimension, shares revelations about beauty, aging, and self-improvement in her debut book, “Grace in Your Second Act,” released this week. The book seeks to inspire its readers to celebrate their senior years, with particularly powerful moments where LaRue gets vulnerable about her experiences as a Black woman.
Filled with lessons learned over a 50-year career as a performer and lead singer of one of the most successful music groups in pop culture history, LaRue tackles everything from style tips, makeup and fitness, to her experiences growing up as a Black woman and overcoming beauty standards. With overarching themes of growth, confidence, and self-love, the book has lessons that resonate far beyond its initial audience. LaRue shares an emboldening perspective on age, inviting readers to re-think modern beauty standards that prioritize a particular age, style, or skin color.
“We have to stop buying into the myth that the only people who matter are the young,” she states in her book. “An often-quoted saying is, ‘Don’t regret growing older. It’s a privilege denied to many.’ … For that reason alone, we have to embrace aging with grace and thankfulness.”
Her words serve as an encouragement to older readers to enjoy their senior years, rather than fear them, but they also serve as a reassurance to younger readers. LaRue is at her most vulnerable when she discusses her youth, when she struggled with euro-centric beauty standards both throughout her childhood and in her early career. Now, as an award-winning, world-renowned performer and an icon in the Black community, she has learned to embrace her beauty, especially as she ages into her “second act.”
“Initially, I was inspired to write the book by friends and fans who constantly asked me how I had so much energy and looked so young for my age. However, as I began writing, I was led to delve deeper into the aging process, and I noticed how people (especially women) feared aging – something we can’t prevent!” says Ms. LaRue, reflecting on her experience writing the book. “It was then that I changed my focus to giving one’s self grace while aging, and to inspiring young people in their ‘first act’ to take care of themselves, while preparing for a fulfilling ‘second act,’ and to assure seniors that it is never too late to begin living a happy, healthy, fulfilling ‘second act.’”