Why interview old women?

Why interview women over 80 years old? Consider this common insult: “You drive like a little old lady.” This cliché suggests all old women are alike and all are negligible and negative — limited, timid, hesitant, implicitly uninteresting and unimportant. Ageism and sexism in three words! These interviews will introduce you to thirteen women — age 80 to 97 — who disprove the cliché. All of them have lived intensely and continue to have interesting, evolving lives. These marvelous old women come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They are Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and unaffiliated; they are white, black, Mexican–American, Puerto Rican-American, and Iraqi-American. Economically, they range from modest to wealthy. Each woman relates her own story in her own way and tells how she sees herself and her life-journey. These are personal interviews, but historical events, such as World War II and the Holocaust, and social problems, including racism and sexism, are often crucial parts of their lives and stories. How each woman experienced and responded to limitations and difficulties is central to her character and story. We hope that after reading these interviews, readers will have less dread of aging, a greater sense of continuing possible growth in their own lives and awareness, and a vision of becoming wise old women—or men—themselves.

Deb Field, Linda Harris, and Bonnie Lyons have been friends for years. Working on this book of interviews together has helped us celebrate the thirteen interview subjects, some of whom are our personal friends and neighbors and to develop new friendships as well. Talking to these women and photographing them in their homes has deepened the friendship we three share and helped us to look ahead to our own lives after we reach 80 with increased understanding. Their vitality, resilience and wisdom inspire us.