CATHRYN JAKOBSON RAMIN

Cathryn Jakobson Ramin is the author of Carved in Sand: When Attention Fails and Memory Fades in Midlife for which she has been interviewed extensively in the press, including two consecutive appearances on Good Morning America and features in USA Today and O the Oprah Magazine. She has worked as a journalist and columnist for nearly 30 years, most recently writing for the New York Times Magazine and O magazine.  Ramin speaks and trains on a wide range of topics embracing aspects of memory, attention and cognition and how they are affected in midlife. Some topics are suitable for management and employees while other are geared to Human Resources. Typically, she tailors her program to the specific needs of the group. Every session includes enough time for an extensive Q & A.

Ramin is an in demand speaker who has given talks to a wide variety of groups and organizations such as the American Banking Association, The Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Napa Arts and Lectures at Copia, and the National Kidney Foundation.

Ramin is an expert on the subject of memory and attention – and what happens to these faculties in middle age. Her book chronicles her own experiences as she seeks solutions to forgetfulness and distraction, including interviews with eminent scientists, psychologists, and hundreds of middle-aged people in the process. 

Ramin has a remarkable ability to master and synthesize complex subject matter and to present it in a way that is consistently accessible, witty and engaging, seamlessly weaving personal narrative and investigative reporting, humor and empathy. Equipped with great anecdotes, the latest research, and plenty of practical solutions, Ramin, who is as talented a performer as she is a reporter, has audiences nodding in recognition and roaring with laughter, as together they explore the glitches, gaps and gaffes that plague midlife brains.

Ramin began this particular journey with a feature story in the New York Times Magazine in December 2004, titled “In Search of Lost Time.” She followed up with a story in O magazine in March 2005, called “Valley of the Dulls,” about the cognitive side effects of antidepressants. Both articles elicited powerful reader responses: Midlife forgetfulness, with its complicated causes and unnerving, frustrating and sometimes terrifying consequences, was clearly a hot button.

A natural performer – she studied theater at Tufts University, before turning to journalism – Ramin speaks eloquently and intriguingly about her findings. But her greatest strength is evident in her ability to develop an intimacy with her audience. No matter how large the crowd, it is as if she is speaking to each person individually, answering his or her questions and capably illustrating her talks with fresh examples from new research on memory and cognition. At the end of her presentations, audiences are satisfied: Not only have they enjoyed themselves, they have new strategies in hand, and they understand that they are not alone.

Ramin, who recently turned 50, lives with her husband, Ron Ramin, a film composer, two teenage sons, and two dogs in Mill Valley, California.  She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto. She is a fellow of the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.