If that guy doing pushups in the “Geezer-Fit” muscle shirt looks like he’s having a good time, it’s because he is. “I truly enjoy working out, especially when it’s with my wife, Stanya,” says Jim Owen. “She’s my favorite workout partner, and not just because she’s put up with me for 54 years. We egg each other on and laugh like a couple of kids.” 

But Jim is the first to admit exercise wasn’t always his idea of fun.  When he was 70, a “physical wreck” and just starting his push to get in shape, getting through his exercise sessions was “hard.”  But he got over the initial hump and soon found himself getting stronger and more energetic, week by week. 

By the time he was 75, he was not only physically transformed, but had also found a new passion: being an evangelist for healthy aging. First came his book, Just Move! A New Approach to Fitness after 50, published by National Geographic in 2017. Next he produced a 30-minute documentary, The Art of Aging Well. Released in 2020, the film aired on 116 PBS stations in 25 states; it can also be streamed by clicking here.  

At a time when many retirees are taking up an “encore career,” Jim is well into his third act. After a successful 35-year Wall Street career, he reinvented himself by originating the concept of Cowboy Ethics. His 2004 book, Cowboy Ethics, and its second edition in 2010, was a best-seller with more than 160,000 copies in circulation.