Richard Stanley and Joe Wasserman tried to quit. They came separately to Great Barrington to relax, retire and, perhaps, fiddle around real estate and whatever caught their fancy. They met while attending a town meeting, and as entrepreneurs will do, they talked about their dreams for improving Great Barrington's historic business district.

Now you see what became of their first meeting. Richard and Joe couldn't retire, and no one should have a goal to retire. Sure, you want to change. Sure, you need a new challenge. Oddly, the AARP brags about being the biggest association in the world and about being the largest advocacy group in Washington. However, when people who don't work claim to have the biggest voice, something's very wrong.

All but one of us at SMALL BUSINESS SCHOOL are baby boomers. Then we have one 23-year-old. No one here thinks about retiring. It's not good for people not to have work. And it's not good for the country for our most experienced individuals to leave the work force. The great thing about working for yourself is that no one can make you quit. We have studied a number of way- past -retirement-age entrepreneurs. We've learned a lot from them and from Richard and Joe. But I think the greatest lesson is they are all smart enough not to retire.

Topic for Discussion: Does success in business have anything to do with age?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS: No. Members of the over- sixty crowd who start businesses in fields related to their life experience have a very high success rate.

For example, Bob Dole worked in the federal government for decades. Now he has a law practice and he advises those who do business with the government.

Joe has always built public spaces and Richard had dealt with hundreds of real estate deals while in the hair salon business. Even though neither had ever owned a movie theater, they see themselves more as developers than theater owners.

You think about it.

TOPIC FOR DISCUSSION: Why did Richard and Joe join forces to build the Triplex?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS: Because retirement is not what it is cracked up to be. They were both bored. Michael Novak in his book Business As A Calling; Work and the Examined Life says, "The after-taste of affluence is boredom." Also, both Richard and Joe are visionaries. They could look at the fire damaged building and visualize what could be. They knew that parking would be available at night and that access to the back lot could be created. The town needed something to bring the nightlife back. They saw a need and filled it.