ABANDONED. sci-fi, sentient light beings, no humanoids.

[Barbj]

I read this in the 1970's, it could be older. Takes place in deep space, light based beings, male and female, live for eons, but do die eventually. Puberty is especially dangerous for males. One male realizes this and avoids it and lives longer than anyone else.
Later he leaves the area and travels though space between universes(?)not sure what the area is but it takes almost forever. I forget what happens next. Or it may have been his child who leaves. I do know the one who leaves is named, "Vanguard".

Very intriguing in that it's told from a non-humanoid viewpoint, and raises the idea that there may be "life" in the universe that is not anything like what we would call life, except that it's self aware.

I think the beings have different colored light bodies, are spherical in shape, and are not stars. They make and play with stars, but are not Gods. I'd love to read it again of course, appreciate any clues or leads. Thanks so much.

Barb J.

[Diana]

This isn't something I've read, but I would suggest checking out the Literature portion of this list and seeing if anything rings a bell:
Starfish Aliens. Don't mind the title, it's just their term for non-humanoid aliens.

Warning: this link takes you to TV Tropes, which is a massively addicting timesuck.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Barbj, are you still looking for this?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

No response in 2+ years. Moving to Abandoned.