Andrea Martin, Actress
Are things beginning to change in the way we see older folks in our culture?
Last Sunday, the LA Times served up three articles relating to older people thriving in their very visible professions. Three! and it wasn’t even National Gerontology Month or Hug a Grandparent Day or anything.
Whenever I see such articles, I wonder if the culture is shifting beyond the negation of older people to a place where we’re seen as more relevant to society in general. Wouldn’t it be nice if that pervasive ageism were fading away?
Relevance in TV
Andrea Martin, pictured above, is seventy years old and working harder than ever as an actress. More than four decades into a prolific career in film, TV and theater, she’s productive, professional, and inspiring. I liked her energy and her humor. She’s been curious and brave all her life, and she is not slowing down. You can read more about her here. And by the way, of all the series that have been canceled or not renewed lately, Grace and Frankie is starting its fourth season, streaming on Amazon. Go, older peeps!
Relevance in Politics
Maxine Waters, Congresswoman
Maxine Waters, age 78, may be the most outspoken member of Congress. She’s unhappy about the way things are going in this country, and she’s not afraid to tell you about it. She’s becoming a rock star with the young, who call her Auntie Maxine for her no-shit bluntness. Politicians are so bland, the only thing coming out of their mouths is the chapter and verse designed to help their parties. Not Auntie Maxine. She says, “Some people see me as a rabble-rouser…I often get a feeling most people don’t know who I am, or have a clue, and I live with that. I don’t try to prove anything by talking.” That’s the confidence of maturity. You can read her story here.
Relevance in Music
Michael McDonald
I have to confess, I’ve never been a great fan of Michael McDonald’s singing, but he is popular and respected. At 65, he’s working more than ever, frequently sitting in with younger acts. The latest was at the just-ended Coachella Music Festival with his friend Thundercat, who says about Michael, “Sometimes these older cats get jaded–they start thinking kids are stupid. But the Michael I’m seeing is the same guy I would’ve seen 30 or 40 years ago if I’d been around.” You can read more about him here.
One More Story about Freakin’ Amazing Old People
The 2011 National Medal of Science Laureates and 2010 National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates receive their medals from President Obama in the East Room of The White House on February 1, 2013. Ryan K Morris/National Science & Technology Medals Foundation.
John Goodenough is a 94-year-old inventor who is setting “the tech industry abuzz with his blazing creativity.” If his new battery works as well as expected, gas-powered vehicles will disappear. “We tend to assume that creativity wanes with age,” says the writer, Pagan Kennedy. “But Dr. Goodenough’s story suggests that some people actually become more creative as they grow older.”
But we knew that, because we talked about it in an earlier post in which researcher Gene Cohen, who studies the connection between art and neurons, said
The brain’s left and right hemispheres become better integrated during middle age, making way for greater creativity…The neurons themselves may lose some processing speed with age, but they become ever more richly intertwined…”
Such integration led one researcher to say that our higher thinking in older age “approaches the level of art.”
You can read the whole story about Dr. Goodenough and his invention here.
I hope you enjoyed this collection of profiles about inspirational older people. Maybe we’re becoming more positive about the way we see them, and ourselves, in older age. I sure hope so! What do you think?
Interesting post, Lynne. You may want to add this. The wife of incumbent French President Emmanuel Macron is 25 years his senior and still a knock out. Brigitte may help make 50+ the new desirable demographic.
Oh, I know! They are so interesting.
Hi Lynne
Received a note from you on my blog site. Please check out richlyaged.com today for something very relevant.
At 73, I had another stroke event last Saturday. April 29, 2017. May is Natonal
Stroke Awareness Month and my most recent (yesterday) blog concerns raising awareness of the FAST memory tool for the signs of stroke.
Last Saturday, I experienced my third in four years. I can attest to the difference in knowing the signs of stroke, one of the leading causes of death in our country, and being clueless like I was in the first event.
My mission is to spread the word about what symptoms signals this particular brain killing event. DO YOU KNOW THE SIGNS OF STROKE is the topic for my post, richlyaged.com. Please help make your readers aware of these important symptoms.
During my first, I was clueless about the symptoms, even while I was having them. I rationalized away the possibility.
Please share this information with at least five friend or family and maybe they will pass it on.
I will definitely share it with all my networks and in my blog, Dixie. I’m sorry about your having these strokes! Thank goodness for your nurse friend. You’ve done a very good thing by telling about it. It makes it seem more real and close to home when a friend tells her story. Very best wishes for your full recovery.
My two takeaways: “She’s been curious and brave all her life, and she is not slowing down.” and “(left/right brain integration)…our higher thinking in older age “approaches the level of art.”” Curious, creative, and engaged.
Yes, Dennis, that’s the ticket!
Hi Lynne! I am convinced that the majority of news about aging these days is positive. Much like the positive psychology movement begin born out of people who started studying the healthy psyche of people rather than sickness, positive aging studies are showing what it means to grow older in a vital and thriving way. Thanks for sharing these stories and all that you do to remind us all that our aging will be much different than generations before us…and I’m convinced it will be positive. ~Kathy
My pleasure, Kathy. Thanks for your kind words. I’m reading Deep Work by Dr. Cal Newport about the way our brains are changing in the digital age (if we let them). He uses the difference between older and younger people in this particular: younger are more affected by negativity, whereas older people have “trained their amygdala” to filter out negativity and respond more to positivity. Well, it sounds good and I’m glad he included it, celebrating us as awesome. However, my understanding is that trait is less a conscious effort and more the natural tendency of an always-efficient organism. It might also be the root of the increasing sense of well-being older people have in study after study. And that reason is: the brain, having learned over half a century what is or isn’t going to kill it, tends to relax about the negative, leaving only the positive to react to. Sweet!
I appreciate you “curating’ these pieces for us, Lynne! It’s great to see a bunch of them (I consider three to be a bunch, especially when they’re all in one general interest media outlet! I’m not sure the tide is turning, but I’ll take whatever progress this represents.
Oh good, I’m glad you enjoyed them, Roxanne. I feel like this kind of article just leap out at me, and it’s no fun if I can’t share them.
Spot on, Lynne!
They are all “freakin’ amazing old people!”
As you pointed out, “pervasive ageism” will become less of a concern if more and more (of us) keep going—keep doing (ordinary) things.
Seems to me, then one day, when you’re “old enough” people younger than yourself think what you’re doing is absolutely marvelous, and it is.
Individuals such as Dr. Goodenough, Michael McDonald, and Maxine Waters are showing, chronological age is a mere number.
Do your thing—become like good red wine—improve with age!
There are a few tricks how to do that, though. It’s not only “strong genes.”
Don’t stop living because you turn 55 or 60 or 65 …
Don’t “retire.” Stay fit. Really fit. Eat cleaner. Occasional fasting. Nurture relationships. Care about others. Did I mention, don’t stop? (Meaning, don’t quit.)
Not saying keep going with your first job or career.
Another living example of going from strength to strength is the actor Michael Caine and the 105-year old cyclist, Mr. Robert Marchand, http://bit.ly/2kuHQEJ
A timely and inspiring post, Lynne!
Thanks!
Thank you so much, Danie! I appreciate your energy in the words of this comment. Great advice all the way through.
I believe that we “older” people have a responsibility to be relevant. Engage in working to make the world a better place. It’s too easy to sit back and let the “young” do the work. In truth, I get more attention these days when I talk about something — because of my age. I guess people are amazed that my brain still works at eighty years old. lol
Use what you got, I always say, Libby! If they pay attention, you must be saying something worthwhile. I totally agree, we must engage; nobody owes us anything.
Your post is just what I needed this morning, Lynne! I started my blog two years ago with the intention of exploring ageism. Lately, the subject has lost its lustre for me. Concern about the changes (and threats) we are experiencing in politics has overshadowed any concern I’ve had about the issues surrounding growing old. Judging from a decline in articles about ageism, I think many other people may be feeling the same way. I hope I’m wrong about that, since this is a topic which has implications not only for our current population, but for people who will age into the future. Thank you for keeping it alive!
Diane, your column has been morphing from a thoughtful analysis of aging to a lot of broad topics, but they’re all “as viewed from the a mature perspective.” Your posts are wide-ranging, but still integrated along that theme. I like it. You’re especially brave to tackle the high-tech issues.
And the fiction–I hope you’ll put that together into a book.
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As I was writing this post, I wondered if AST–Life after 50 might have to change focus eventually, too, because if there’s a greater acceptance of older people as an important part of our society, my work would be done. If that happened, I’d probably expand my topic range, but I’d keep the blog, because I love having a chance for discussion. Thanks for writing.
Thanks for letting us know about these articles. It’s great to have someone on the lookout!!
It’s fun to share them with you. Thanks for stopping by, Cynthia.