My conversation with Steve Hoffman was deep and engaging, largely due to his eloquence and profound self-reflection. Steve is a Minnesota tax preparer and a French-loving food & wine writer.

I don't know if one person has ever been both of those things. His writing has garnered significant recognition, winning multiple awards, including the prestigious 2019 James Beard M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. His work has been featured in Food & Wine, The Washington Post, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Artful Living. His first book, A Season for That: Lost and Found in the Other Southern France, was published this year. 

Steve doesn’t consider himself retired, but he’s already figured out that even in the present, you can start walking toward your future. He knows who he is, who he wants to be, and where those two things don’t yet line up. I admire his tireless effort to become a better version of himself. 

Open a bottle of French wine, cleanse your palette, and get ready to imbibe some happy retirement wisdom from Midwest Francophile Steve Hoffman.

00:00-Introductions

04:44-A Rediscovery of Old Loves

06:32-An “Oscar” in Food Writing

12:16-Tennis for Longevity

15:08-An Ideal Retirement

18:12-Still: The Art of Noticing

20:17-Couch Time

27:36-Compounding Interest in Happiness

33:23-A Home Base to Return To

40:51-Retirement is an Extension, Not an Escape

43:13-A Transitional Character

49:07-Busyness as a Distraction

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